Unity, Duty, Destiny, and Harmony
by Kenny Rutter
Summary: The latest entry in the My Little Pony Crossover Saga. When the Mane Six are sent to investigate a dimensional disturbance, they find themselves in an adventure on an island from the time before time.
1. The Legends

THE LEGENDS

IN THE TIME BEFORE TIME, THE GREAT SPIRIT DESCENDED FROM THE HEAVENS, carrying his people, the Matoran, to the island paradise they would call home. They were separate, and without purpose, so the Great Spirit bestowed upon them three virtues by which to live - unity, duty, and destiny. The Matoran embraced these gifts, and in gratitude, they named their island home Mata Nui, after the Great Spirit himself.

But their happiness was not to last, for Mata Nui's brother, The Makuta, was jealous of these honors and betrayed him, casting a spell over Mata Nui, who fell into a deep slumber.

The Makuta was free to unleash his shadows. And unleash them, he did. His powers dominated the land. Fields withered and died. Sunlight grew cold. Ancient values were forgotten.

Still, all hope was not lost. Legends spoke of six mighty heroes, the Toa, who would arrive to save Mata Nui. Time would reveal that these were not simple myths, for the Toa did arrive on the shores of the island. They arrived with no memory, no knowledge of one another - only knowing that they would defend Mata Nui and the Matoran against The Makuta. Tahu, Toa of Fire. Lewa, Toa of Air. Pohatu, Toa of Stone. Gali, Toa of Water. Kopaka, Toa of Ice. Onua, Toa of Earth. Great warriors with great powers, drawn from the elements themselves. Together, they were six heroes with one destiny - defeat Makuta and awaken Mata Nui.

But they were not the only heroes, and their legend was not the only legend.

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her alicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies - Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasus.

But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon. She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night.

Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon, and harmony was maintained in Equestria for the next one thousand years.

That was, until one thousand years later, when the stars aligned, aiding in Nightmare Moon's escape. At the same time, a young unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, who was studying under Celestia, rediscovered the Elements of Harmony with six other ponies and purged the hatred and jealousy from Nightmare Moon, returning her to her normal form of Luna. Applejack, the Element of Honesty. Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter. Rarity, the Element of Generosity. Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty. And Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic. Together, they defended Equestria from a number of threats - Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, whom they later reformed; the Changeling Army, twice; the return of the evil King Sombra; the spreading Everfree Forest; the centaur Tirek, who nearly decimated the land; Starlight Glimmer, who wished to remove all ponies of their cutie marks, whom they also later reformed. Together, these six ponies had become a formidable force to be reckoned with.

Two teams of heroes, two legends, soon to come together in ways none of them could ever imagine.


	2. Deal From A God

DEAL FROM A GOD

STARLIGHT GLIMMER DODGED A HOOF STRIKE, BOUNDING OFF OF THE tree behind her. Her momentum carried her, slamming her into Twilight Sparkle, sending them rolling along the ground, both ponies trying to lay a hit on the other. She ignored the hard stone jutting into her back as they rolled down the hill.

They landed, Twilight pinning Starlight down with her front hooves, and she prepared to fire. Starlight quickly teleported out of the way, less than a second before Twilight's magic hit the ground, burning a hole through it. Starlight reappeared on Twilight's left. She lowered her head and charged.

Twilight quickly turned to meet Starlight's charge. They rammed their heads into each other and pushed, both trying to get the other to back down.

Spike and the other ponies watched intensely as the two mares squared off,  
Spike and Pinkie Pie sharing a bowl of popcorn.

"Starlight looks like she's getting a little better at this," Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"As much as I dislike violence, I must admit, it was a good idea for us to teach her how to fight as well as Twilight teaching her how to harness her magical skills," Rarity said.

"She ain't doin' too bad a job," Applejack added.

"I just hope they don't hurt each other too badly," Fluttershy squeaked. She winced as Twilight's hoof connected with Starlight's face. "Ouch."

Spike and Pinkie Pie were both silent - a rare thing for Pinkie Pie - as they chewed on their popcorn and watched the two other mares spar.

This whole thing was actually Applejack's idea. Ever since Starlight had changed her ways and become Twilight's student, Twilight had been teaching her the magic of friendship and how to harness her magical unicorn powers. But Applejack thought that she would need to learn how to defend herself should the need ever arise, only to find out that outside of her magic, Starlight didn't know how to fight.

It was Applejack's idea to have these sparring sessions, three hours a day Monday through Friday, training with different ponies on different days. Today she'd sparred with Applejack and Rarity - which surprised Starlight; she never figured Rarity would be the time to get her hooves bloodied - and now it was Twilight's turn.

Twilight, Starlight had discovered, was more viscious than even Rainbow Dash when it came to fighting. They weren't even really trying to hurt each other and yet here Twilight Sparkle was coming at Starlight Glimmer with all of her strength, though Twilight had assured her that she would be holding back. Then again, Starlight figured she shouldn't have been surprised - after all, Princess Twilight Sparkle was the pony who had a hoof in personally sending Tirek back to Tartarus...after nearly leveling all of Ponyville in the process.

The two mares stared at each other, bleeding from their noses and dripping sweat and breathing heavily. Starlight could feel the muscles in her legs tremble as she tried to stay standing; every little sway in her body felt like it would be the last before she toppled over from exhaustion. But she refused to let that happen; she adjusted her stance, finding her center of balance, and stared down her alicorn mentor.

Twilight's horn began to glow. And before Starlight could react, Twilight yelled one word.

"Dodge!"

Starlight had no time; the blast hit her square in the face, knocking her off her hooves and sending her tumbling down the hill. She yelled and grunted as she fell, tumbling over rocks and biting her tongue as she came to a stop at the bottom of the hill.

Twilight's blast hadn't been very powerful - by Twilight's standards, anyway - but it was enough to cause some serious pain in her snout, the tip of her muzzle burning from the initial impact. In fact, her whole body was racked with pain from the tumble down the hill. She just lay there, breathing, trying to numb the pain she was feeling. She didn't feel like anything had been broken, but her whole body was stinging.

"Starlight! Are you okay?" Twilight asked as she, Spike, and the other ponies came down the hill.

Starlight took a few more breaths. "I think so," she said, her voice shaking as the adrenaline wore off. She slowly stood up on her hooves, all four legs shaking. "I just...didn't dodge, that's all."

Twilight used her magic to levitate a wet cloth over to Starlight, who used it to wipe the dirt and sweat off her face. "That's okay," Twilight said as Spike gave her a cup of water. "Honestly, I wasn't expecting you to be an expert on this sort of thing after only a couple of weeks."

"You think so?"

"We sure do," Spike said. "When Applejack came up with this idea, you couldn't even buck your way out of a wet paper bag."

"Spike, seriously, encouragement," Twilight hissed.

"No, he's right," Starlight said, coming to the little dragon's rescue. "But I don't know if I am getting better at this or not." She turned to the other ponies. "Did you all go through this sort of training?"

"If only," Rainbow Dash replied. "We had to learn as we went, which believe me, wasn't always awesome. You don't see it, but we've still got some scars from our battles." She rubbed her hind leg with a hoof. "This one in particular still aches every now and then."

"And after our battle against Kronos," Fluttershy added, "I had to wait nearly a month for three broken ribs to heal. It hurt so much."

Starlight tilted her head quizzically at the shy yellow pegasus. Even after being told these stories numerous times, about how her new friends had been to other worlds, she found it difficult to believe. She had heard stories of beings suppossedly from other worlds coming to Equestria - most times it ended up with Canterlot getting destroyed - but she believed those stories because there was physical evidence to back them up. These stories, about fighting gods and going to other dimensions that are just a small part of a vast multiverse, were much more difficult to believe.

 _And this is coming from a unicorn who traveled through time while trying to change the past._ Starlight pushed that thought aside and took another drink of water.

"So whaddya say, Starlight? Ya ready to take on an pegasus?" Rainbow Dash asked, smacking her front hooves together.

"Actually, girls, I think our sparring session is over for the day," Twilight said. "It's been three hours, and she's already gone up against Applejack, Rarity, and myself. Maybe tomorrow, Rainbow Dash. For right now, though, what do you all say to going into town and getting something to eat?"

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, can I pick the place?" Pinkie Pie asked, throwing a hoof up in the air like a school filly. "Hoofdonald's! No, wait, Hay Burger King! No, no, Sugar Cube Corner!"

"Not the last one," Rainbow Dash quickly said. "We've had muffins and carrot cakes for the last three days. I say Hoofdonald's."

Ten minutes later, they were all sitting at a table at Hoofdonald's, eating their hay burgers and hay fries. Starlight and Rarity were laughing at one of Pinkie Pie's jokes, while Fluttershy simply poked at what was left of her hay burger - five bites and she was finished.

"And then Limestone's like 'Mom! This one's eating my popcorn!' and Maud had to sic Boulder on it. It was hilarious!"

Starlight joined the pink party pony in her laughter. "Your family sounds really fun to be around, Pinkie."

"Oh, they are," Pinkie Pie said. "We take one day out of the year to spend with each other - well, I guess Hearth's Warming Eve would be two days, but there's one day for me to spend with each of my sisters." She put a hoof around Rarity. "And even Rarity got in on it once. Hey, did you know Rarity can make a good replacement for me?" She turned to Rarity. "If I get abducted by aliens, fill in for me." Rarity just smiled. "Promise, darn you!"

"Pinkie Pie, no one's getting abducted by aliens," Twilight said flatly.

"Rarity did, if you think about it," Pinkie Pie replied. Rarity responded by smacking her in the face with a hoof - hard enough for the smack to be heard through the restaurant. "What? Too soon?"

"Still too soon, yes," Rarity hissed.

"Pinkie, you know that Rarity don't like nopony bringing that up," Applejack said.

"Yeah." She turned to Rarity. "I'm sorry. I guess I forgot."

"All is forgiven, darling," Rarity replied. "I hope I didn't hit you too hard."

"Okay, you still haven't really talked about that," Starlight pointed out as she swallowed her hay burger. "Is there a reason for that?"

"A very good reason," Rarity said grimly. "We shall leave it at that."

There was a lot they hadn't told her, Starlight figured. And from what she'd just seen and heard, perhaps there really WAS a good reason for it. After all, if Rarity had a reaction like that from what Pinkie Pie had just said, whatever they refused to talk about had to be traumatic, to say the least. Starlight had heard stories of visitors from other lands, so perhaps whatever had caused Rarity to have that outburst had something to do with it.

The most anyone had said about it was that whatever had happened left Rarity a broken mess for more than a year. Odd; she seemed to be in pretty good spirits, always smiling and cheerful, just as she had been when the two had first met. She couldn't imagine Rarity being a recluse, shut-out from the world and, if what Rarity herself had told her, contemplating ending her own life had Sweetie Belle not talked her out of it.

"Well, I think it's time we went home," Twilight said. "It's been a long day, and we could use some rest. What do you think, Starlight?"

"I could use a shower," Starlight answered.

They paid their bill and said their goodbyes, each one heading their separate ways. Applejack had some shopping to do around town before heading back to the farm, and Fluttershy tagged along with her, saying she was looking for an ingredient for Angel Bunny's favorite dessert. Rainbow Dash headed to the bookstore; she missed the midnight release of the latest Daring Do book. Pinkie Pie and Rarity headed straight home, Pinkie Pie so she could start baking a birthday cake, and Rarity so she could prepare for Sweetie Belle's tenth birthday party.

Starlight stretched her neck for the third time in the last ten minutes. She had started doing that since before they left the restaurant.

"Are you okay, Starlight?"

"I'm fine. Just a stiff neck, that's all. I didn't expect Rarity to be such a heavy hitter."

Twilight couldn't help but laugh. "She may pride herself on being elegant and beautiful, but don't underestimate her - she will lay a beat down if she has to. Trust me, I've seen her do it against more than a few Changelings when they invaded Canterlot."

The crystal palace came into view a moment later, its tree-shaped structure reminding Twilight of the home she lost during her battle with Tirek. She couldn't help but look over at what was left of the Golden Oaks Library, a crater in the ground from when the treehouse was destroyed. All that had been left was the roots, which, shortly after Twilight moved into the palace - which magically sprouted from the ground after she and her friends defeated Tirek with the Rainbow Power - her friends pulled the roots out of the ground and hung them in the map room.

It was a reminder of what she had lost, but also gave her the hope of making new memories in this new home.

Twilight was glad to see that Spike had finished polishing the map table while they were gone. She had actually invited him along, but he said he wanted to stay behind and finish his chores first. Twilight didn't bother arguing with him - this was yet another moment Spike was living by his dragon code, completing his tasks despite any and all temptations.

As she suspected, Spike was sitting in his bedroom, lying in his little basket bed, reading another issue of _Power Ponies._

"Hey, you guys are back early," he said when he looked up from the book.

"Early? It's been three hours," Starlight said.

"Really? Wow. Time flies when you're reading comics."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you were going to finish your chores first?"

"I did," Spike replied. "Then when I finished, I started reading." He turned to Starlight. "How'd it go today?"

"Okay, I guess," Starlight answered. "Though Rarity hurts when she hits." She stretched her neck again. "If anypony needs me, I'll be in the shower."

############################################

Starlight didn't like her water to be scalding hot, nor did she like it freezing cold; rather, he preferred it somewhere in the middle. But since Spike liked to take seven hour long bubble baths on a weekly basis, she had to make do with cold water, since the little dragon had used up almost all of the hot water just last night.

Her body got used to the water after just a few moments, and she stood under the shower head, just letting the water wash all the dirt and sweat out of her fur and mane and tail. Even after she had been forced to live in the wilderness for several months, she still hated the feeling of dirt and sweat in her mane.

Of course, that might not had happened if she didn't get jealous of Sunburst's cutie mark. It was that jealousy that led her to wanting to strip other ponies of their cutie marks so they could all be equal. Twilight and her friends stopped her and drove her out of the little village she'd founded near the northeastern edge of Equestria, but that just made her thirsty for revenge, revenge that, as Twilight showed her, could have resulted in the death of every living thing in the world.

Since that moment, Starlight gave up her villainous ways and became Twilight's student - much like how Twilight had once been Princess Celestia's student - but there were still some ammends to be made, starting with meeting up with Sunburst again to rekindle their old friendship.

Starlight's reminiscing was interrupted by the water suddenly turning boiling hot.

"YAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" She leaped out of the tub, her fur feeling like it were on fire. "WHAT THE FLYING FEATHER WAS THAT!"

"What's wrong, Starlight?" Twilight called from her study down the hall.

"Some flankhead just decided to crank up the hot water, that's what!"

A voice spoke up, a deep voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

"That would be my doing."

Starlight had expected Discord to materialize - after all, this was something that draconequus would do - but not...whatever it was that had just shown up in a beam of bright yellow light. The being was shaped somewhat like an ape, just without the fur and the massive arms. He was tall, with pointed elf-like ears and dressed in a silver robe. In one hand he carried a staff, tipped with a blade that looked like a scythe. There was a noble look about him, but at the same time, he looked sinister, like he was capable of untold destruction if provoked enough.

Starlight levitated a towel around her body as she stared at the being. "Who the hoof are you? And why in the name of all things Equestria did you pull that little stunt?"

"My apologies. Perhaps I've been meeting with Discord too many times."

The door flew open as Twilight and Spike hurried into the room.

"Kronos?" Twilight gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Wait," Starlight said as she turned to Twilight. "You know this...whatever he is?"

"Uh, Starlight?" Spike said with a worried tone. "I'd watch what you say if I were you. Kronos is a god, you know."

Starlight scoffed. "Right. And I'm Celestia's long lost daughter."

"It's true," Twilight said. "Kronos, meet my pupil, Starlight Glimmer. Starlight Glimmer, meet Kronos, the God of Dimensions."

"God of Dimensions, huh?" Starlight asked. She turned to the being - Kronos. "Prove it," she said smugly.

A smile formed on Kronos's face. "I hope for your sake you do not live to regret this decision." He raised a hand, levitating Starlight off the floor. Starlight let out a startled yelp and started flailing her legs. "Come with me, then, and I shall open your eyes to the multiverse." He tapped the base of his staff on the floor -

And the next thing Starlight Glimmer knew, she was in the middle of an ocean of stars. The gorgeous tapestry wrapped around them, the endless void of space suddenly becoming a beautiful painting.

Starlight looked around them, unsure of what to make of all of this. On the one hoof, she was amazed at just how lovely everything was, but on the other hoof, she was confused, not sure how they had gotten here.

"Okay, you," she said. "Spill."

"You are at my Cosmic Observatory," Kronos answered. "From here, I keep watch over every dimension in every universe in the multiverse."

"Multiverse?"

"They say the universe is vast and infinite, with a number of worlds and alternate realities. That number, much like the number of universes, is infinite. I have been around since the beginning of time and have watched over these infinite worlds. Tell me, Starlight Glimmer, what do you see?"

"I see stars. Lots and lots of stars."

"I see worlds inhabited with all sorts of beings. Life persists on each world, with slight variations in each reality, including your precious Equestria. Now tell me this - what do you hear?"

"You mean besides you and me talking? I don't hear anything."

"I hear everything. Every laugh, every cry of sorrow, every scream of fear or misery, I can hear it all. I know the names of every individual. I know their wants, their desires, their fears."

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Look, if you're trying to make me feel sorry for you -"

"I'm trying, Starlight Glimmer, to make you see that I truly am what Twilight Sparkle says I am."

"Then take me to one of these other worlds then. Prove to me that they exist, and that we're not just hanging out in an air bubble in space."

Starlight barely had time to blink before they were on solid ground again, and she suddenly found it very difficult to breathe from all the smoke in the air. Kronos raised his staff, forming a bubble around them.

She took several deep breaths - now that she actually could breathe - and glared up at him. "The hoof!"

Kronos pointed. "Look."

Starlight followed his digit, and gasped at what she was looking at. These...things...resembled Kronos in that they walked on two legs and carried massive weapons, but that was where the similarities ended. They were massive, easily sixty or seventy feet tall and made of metal. Many were a dark green in color, and several were lying on the ground with deep gashes and burn marks on them, their bodies sparking and burning, while other dark green metal men were being mowed down by one that was blue and white.

"What in Celestia's-"

They were someplace else before she could finish her sentence, in the middle of a busy highway packed with vehicles she'd never seen before.

Vehicles that were going so fast she barely had time to get out of the way. Even over the loud sounds of the roaring engines, she could hear the cheers from the crowd, telling her that they were on a race track, not a highway. And even though the vehicles were going too fast for her, and it could have just been her eyes playing a trick, she could have sworn these vehicles had eyes and mouths.

One bright red vehicle was coming right at them, and showing no signs of stopping.

Starlight closed her eyes and put a hoof over her face, waiting for the impact.

An impact that never came.

She slowly opened her eyes, saw that she was back in the palace, this time in the map room, and all the other ponies had been gathered.

"What...in the name of Tartarus...was THAT!" she yelled.

"That, my dear Starlight Glimmer," Kronos said, "was but a sample of the infinite number of worlds out there." He turned to the other ponies in the room. "Ah, Princess, I see you've gathered the other Elements of Harmony."

"Well, when you showed up and whisked Starlight off on your little adventure through time and space -" Twilight began to say

"Which only lasted about twenty minutes," Rainbow Dash huffed.

"Really? Because I thought we were only gone for a few moments," Starlight said.

"Anyway," Twilight continued. "I figured I'd better gather everypony up, because with you here, I thought something important was going on."

"Perhaps there is," Kronos said.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Beggin' your pardon here, Kronos, but why d'ya gotta be so darn cryptic? Either there is or there isn't."

Kronos couldn't help but smile at Applejack's honesty; a year ago he would have lashed out at her, but his defeat by not only them, but also Discord and the heroes of another world showed him that anger was never a solution for anything, especially something as small as somebody speaking their mind.

"True. To be perfectly honest, I am not sure if it even warrants this. I've been watching this world for some time, and I'm starting to get worried. Here, let me explain."

He tapped a finger on the map table, and out sprung an image of an island, shaped almost like a diamond save for the curve on the northern end, and separated into several geological regions - snow capped mountains, a vast desert, an inland sea, a volcanic region, and a lush, deep jungle.

"In a time before time," Kronos said as Spike and the ponies looked on, "far beyond all you imagine, there is an island paradise where legends are real. Protected by six mighty guardians, threatened by one immortal enemy, a master of shadows that not even Nightmare Moon could ever have hoped to compete with. I fear that his shadows may penetrate the borders, whether he intends to or not."

"So let me guess," Rainbow Dash said. "You want us to go to this island and show this guy what for?"

"No," Kronos said flatly. "You cannot get to this island without my power. And besides, I have no concrete evidence of his shadows breaking my laws. That is why I want you to go and investigate." He tapped the table again; the image of the island disappeared. "It would be wise for the seven of you to work with this island's heroes, the Toa, to stop this evil force should it truly be threatening the stability of the worlds."

"Seven?" Rainbow Dash repeated.

"You have added a new member to your group, have you not?" Kronos asked quizically, looking towards Starlight Glimmer.

"Well, yes, yes we have," Twilight quickly said.

"Then I will leave you all to prepare yourselves. Meet back here within one hour with whatever supplies you think you may need for the journey."

"Wait just one cotton ball bouncin' minute here, pardner," Applejack said sternly, raising her hoof. "Nopony here agreed to go on this little field trip, not after the last few we've been on."

"I understand your apprehension, Applejack," Kronos said. "I would do this myself, if I had not other matters to attend to."

"Such as...?" Pinkie Pie pressed.

"One world invading another," Kronos answered. "That is all I can say for now. I will give the seven of you an hour to prepare and gather what you need. Meet back here and your quest will begin."


	3. Through the Gate

THROUGH THE GATE

APPLE BLOOM HAD BEEN WHINING FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN MINUTES, EVER since Applejack had told her about what she was going to be doing. Applejack supposed she couldn't blame her little sister; after all, she'd been on these types of adventures with Applejack before, but after what happened when they visited the Autobots, Applejack was apprehensive.

 _I mean, Apple Bloom almost DIED that time!_

"I really, really, REALLY want to go with you, sis!" the little filly whined.

Applejack pulled the straps of her saddlebag shut before slinging the saddlebag onto her back. "Nothing doing, little sis. I ain't takin' the risk of something terrible happenin' to you again."

"That was one time," Apple Bloom protested.

"One time, yeah, but how many times did you wake up screamin' in the middle of the night?" Apple Bloom lowered her head. She knew her big sister was right; when they visited the Autobots - they had hoped to cure Rarity of her nightmares, which started after their first encounter with the Transformers - they found that the Autobots and Decepticons were still fighting, and not only had Apple Bloom almost been eaten by a zombie Decepticon, she also got poisoned to the point that she had actually flatlined for a short moment.

Applejack put a hoof on her sister's chin and tilted her head up to look her in the eye. "I don't want to lose you, Bloom."

"I know," Apple Bloom said as she hugged her big sister. "Just promise me you'll be careful, Applejack."

"Always, li'l sis," Applejack replied. She ruffled Apple Bloom's mane with a hoof before making her way down the stairs and out the door.

#########################################

"Let me see if I've got this right," Sweetie Belle said as Rarity ran a brush through her royal purple hair for the fifth time. "Kronos wants you, and Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle, and Starlight Glimmer, to go to another world just to make sure something bad isn't happening over there?"

"I would not be surprised if there was much more to it than that," Rarity answred as she finally put the brush down, her magical hold over the object fading away. "But who are we to say no to a god?"

Sweetie Belle tapped a hoof to her chin in thought. "Well, I guess you've got a point. I mean, you told me last time that he gave you guys one heck of a beating."

"I COULDN'T LIE DOWN ON MY BACK FOR A WEEK!" Rarity suddenly bellowed. She cleared her throat, regaining her composure. "Oh dear. Don't know where that came from."

 _I can think of a few places,_ Sweetie Belle thought, though she would never say it outright. Sure, she and her friends had helped Rarity finally overcome her nightmares brought on by her torture at Megatron's hands, but it was still a touchy subject and Sweetie Belle once saw Rarity violently attack a visiting griffon for mentioning it. Granted, that was before Rarity had gotten over her fears, but still...

"Are you sure you've got enough makeup and sketch books?" Sweeite Belle asked, looking at the contents of Rarity's saddlebags.

"One can never have enough accessories, my darling little sister," Rarity answered. "And as for the sketch books - I may be struck with the spark of inspiration while on this little adventure. Why, you saw how well Super Hero Soiree worked, right?"

How could Sweetie Belle forget? She was one of the first ponies Rarity had had model her foal line of outfits for the theme. She didn't mind helping her big sister out like that, but while most ponies were complimenting the outfit, others were telling Sweetie Belle just how adorable she was.

It was bad enough that Sweetie Belle had a slight case of stage fright, but to have ponies say things like that? It was embarrassing. But she had pressed on, and was so happy to hear that Super Hero Soiree had become a big hit in both Canterlot and Manehattan.

Rarity used her magic to seal the saddlebags shut and levitate them onto her back. "I really must be going, Sweetie Belle. I've left a list of chores to do while I'm away, and please, don't burn the place down when you cook breakfast."

"That was one time, and I didn't even burn the building down!" Sweetie Belle protested, her voice cracking in that oh so cute way it always did.

Rarity smiled. "I know, Sweetie." She kissed her little sister on the forehead. "I shall return soon."

########################################

Hairy the Bear let out a growl. Fluttershy could tell he was worried about her - he had helped her heal after their last encounter with Kronos left her with a sore muzzle and two broken ribs.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me this time, Hairy," Fluttershy said, putting a gentle hoof on the burly bear's foreleg. "All we'll be doing is making sure everything is okay. That's what Kronos said." He growled again. "I know you're worried about me, and I appreciate that, but you really don't have to." She turned to the hawk, Tobias, who had grasped her saddlebags in his talons. "Thank you, Toby." The hawk gently set the saddlebags down onto Fluttershy's back. "I've got to go now, but I'll be back soon. Don't worry." She smiled sweetly as she walked out the door.

It was so hard to believe how their simple lives had gotten so...weird. Even before their first encounter with other-worlders, Fluttershy knew that there were alternate timelines for this world - Twilight herself had come close to creating one - but after Cloud and his friends arrived, they learned that there was an entire multiverse out there that they were not aware of. And after talking with Kronos following their first encounter with him, they learned that every univere out there was blissfully aware of each other.

But Fluttershy couldn't help but wonder - had every universe been aware of each other a long time ago? Or had it always been like this, each universe separate from each other?

###########################################

"You need this? How about one of these things?"

Scootaloo had been helping Rainbow Dash pack her bags since she had gotten home; Scootaloo didn't live with Rainbow Dash - she lived in a small cottage on the outside of town; nopony knew where her parents were, but the little filly seemed to get along just fine with only Rainbow Dash as a parental figure - and she visited her idol every chance she got.

"Thanks, Scoots, but I really don't need any of my trophies," Rainbow Dash said as she used her wings to secure her saddlebags onto her back. "I mean, it'd be cool to show them off, but I don't think anyone there would understand, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Scootaloo said. She put Rainbow Dash's Fastest Flyer trophy back on the shelf. "But what I want to know is why I'm not coming along."

Rainbow Dash tightened the straps of her saddlebags. "Look, half-pint, Kronos just asked us to go look into something while he goes to deal with something in another universe. That's all. Shouldn't take too long. Besides, while we're gone, that'll give you and the other Crusaders a chance to help out that colt who's been looking for his cutie mark, right?"

Ever since they had earned their cutie marks a few months ago, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had made it their mission to help other ponies figure out their true callings in life, starting with a shy young colt named Tender Taps. Since then, they've helped other colts and fillies earn their cutie marks, and even some ponies who already had their cutie marks understand what they meant.

"Well, I guess you're right. Slingshot's having a lot of trouble trying to get off the ground, and his wings are more developed than mine." She fluttered her tiny wings - compared to most pegasus foals her age, her wings were still underdeveloped, meaning the most she could manage was a brief hover - just to prove her point.

Rainbow Dash flapped her own wings, preparing to take flight. "Well, gotta fly. Catch you when I get back, Scoots!" She zoomed out the door and flew in the direction of Twilight's palace, no more than a rainbow-colored blur.

########################################

"Party Cannon, check. Confetti, check. Streamers, check. I think I'm good, Gummy."

Gummy just watched Pinkie Pie, unblinking, his crossed eyes watching her fill her saddlebags. The little alligator paid his owner no mind outside of that, preferring to chew on his ball of yarn with his gums - every so often Mr. Cake had to numb him to pull out the teeth that would start to grow.

Pinkie Pie threw her saddlebags onto her back and bounded down the stairs. "Hi Mr. Cake, hi Mrs. Cake. Bye Mr. Cake, bye Mrs. Cake."

"Pinkie Pie, where are you going?" Mrs. Cake asked as she stirred a bowl of batter. "You just ran through the door and said you had to get ready."

"Oh, Kronos asked us to look into something for him," Pinkie Pie replied.

"Kronos? He's the god you met, isn't he?" Mr. Cake asked.

"Yuppers. Well, gotta go!" She opened the door and skipped down the street, heading for Twilight's palace. "I wonder if everyone else is there already?"

She got her answer as she bounced through the door, everypony standing around the map table with Kronos.

"Took you long enough," Rainbow Dash said; she was hovering in the air, her front legs crossed in front of her.

"You know Gummy," Pinkie Pie chuckled. "He just had to play with his yarn ball."

"Instead of playing with your reptile, you should have been coming over here," Rainbow Dash retorted.

Kronos cleared his throat. "I would like to get started before anyone starts an argument," he said.

"Right. Sorry," Rainbow Dash said as she slowly landed on the ground.

Kronos turned to address them all at once. "I know I asked you to simply perform some reconnaisance for me, but understand that even that might be dangerous. This world you're going to - don't forget that it's being threatened by someone who claims to be the master of shadows. I have no doubt that he will try to sway you all down a dark path. If he does, you must resist that temptation. Are you ready?" He was answered by seven pony heads all nodding. "Very well then." He tapped his finger on the table. The top of the table changed, going from a marble surface to something resembling a small section of the night sky, filled with stars and nebulae. "I will come to get you once your quest has been completed. Good luck, my little ponies."

The seven of them stared at the table, apprehension now filling the room. All but Starlight had gone through gates like this before - one was artificial, one was through magic, and one was a creation of Kronos himself when he merged Equestria with another world - but there was always that sense of nervousness they felt when crossing dimensions.

"Last one through gets to clean my horseshoes!" Rainbow Dash cried as she flew through the portal.

"That sure as surgar cane ain't gonna be me," Applejack hollered as she followed her Pegasus friend.

Pinkie Pie bounced once, twice, then jumped. "Whee!"

Fluttershy stared at the portal. "I don't know," she squeaked.

"Come on, darling," Rarity said, putting a supportive hoof around her friend. "This is nothing new. Come now, we'll go together."

"Well, okay." The two of them jumped together, falling into the portal.

Twilight turned to Starlight. The light pink unicorn had a look on her face, a look of pure nervousness. Twilight could see her student's body shaking, her legs wobbling like trees in a hurricane, her breathing shaky.

"Nervous, aren't you?" Twilight asked.

"I - Yeah, I am," Starlight answered. "I've been to other timelines before, but not other worlds entirely."

"We were all nervous when we first crossed dimensions," Twilight said as she put a supportive wing around Starlight's shoulders. "Don't worry. Your friends are here for you. Are you ready?"

"I think so."

"Then let's go."

Teacher and student leaped through the portal.


	4. Tahu, Toa of Fire

TAHU, TOA OF FIRE

RARITY AND FLUTTERSHY FELL OUT OF THE PORTAL, THEIR HOOVES LANDING on soft dirt. They took a moment to reorient themselves; going through that portal had thrown off their sense of balance.

"Is this a forest?" Fluttershy asked, staring at the dead, burnt-out tree husks surrounding them. The smell of burned wood filled their noses, and the dirt beneath their hooves felt more like ash and soot. From the look of things, whatever had burned this forest had occurred a long time ago, but the smell was so fresh, so crisp.

There was another smell in the air, a smell that Rarity had only smelled when she was near a volcano, or when she and Twilight had travelled with Spike to the Dragon Lands.

 _Brimstone. There must be a volcano nearby. But where is everypony else?_

As far as Rarity could tell, she and Fluttershy were the only two here. Odd; they had all jumped through the same portal, so by that logic, shouldn't they have still been together? Or did the fact that they went through at different times have something to do with it?

"Where's everypony else?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm not sure," Rarity answered. "I think the best thing we can do right now is get to a town and ask about this fellow Kronos was talking about. Fluttershy, can you be a dear and get a Pegasus eye view?"

"Okay." She flapped her wings and took to the sky.

Off in the distance, about a half mile away, she could make out what looked like the outer walls of a fortress, but beyond that, all she saw was a rising plume of smoke.

"Northeast, about a half mile," she called down to Rarity, who had to strain her ears to hear Fluttershy's tiny squeak of a voice.

"I wonder if the others are there?" Rarity asked as Fluttershy landed. "Or maybe somepony there can tell us what we want to know. Half a mile northeast, yes? Then let's get moving."

######################################

The entire forest seemed to have been burned and charred. Everywhere they looked, they saw the burned out husks of old trees, and the dirt felt like ash and soot beneath their hooves. The smell of the burnt wood was irritating their noses, just as much as the sulfurous scent of the nearby lava flows.

Rarity's ears twitched; there was a noise, and it wasn't coming from either of them.

She put a hoof up, stopping Fluttershy.

"What's wrong, Rarity?"

"Did you hear something just now? I mean, besides us?" Rarity asked.

"Like what?"

Rarity shushed her and listened. The sound was close; it sounded like a herd of animals moving towards them, and they were coming fast. She could hear the heavy footfalls and the trees being knocked over.

Something moved through the trees, something Rarity couldn't quite make out. She squinted her eyes, trying to get a better view.

A better view came when a tree fell in front of them, and standing where the tree had been just a second ago, was a tall creature, dark red in color, its massive head shaped like a dome. More creatures joined the first one. They were all the same dark red color, with black highlights, see-through skulls revealing a strange insect-like creature, and armed with shields that resembled flames.

The creatures growled, making the ponies' fur stand on end.

Rarity quickly put herself in front of Fluttershy, shielding her with her body, and fired up her horn.

"Stand back, you fiends!"

The creatures growled and got ready to lunge. Rarity fired a blast of magic from her horn, hitting the nearest creature -

The blast bounced right off of its dome'shaped head and hit a nearby tree.

"Oh dear."

Once more, the creatures prepared to charge. Rarity shut her eyes and put up a barrier, hoping to stop them, even if it was just for a moment.

A curved sword appeared in the ground, its point sticking into the dirt. Slowly, Rarity opened her eyes, seeing the sword and the creatures observing it.

"Where did that come from?"

"Over here, Bohrok."

Rarity and Fluttershy turned in the direction the voice had come from, spotting a humanoid figure just a few yards away. The figure was tall, about as tall as the tallest human they'd seen, but lacked any skin that they could see - most of his body seemed to be covered in some sort of red metallic armor. The only other color they could see besides red was the silver chest and shoulder armor. His face - if it could even be called that - was covered in bumps and ridges, giving it a melted look.

The being slowly walked over to his sword and pulled it out of the ground; he held another sword in his other hand. He crossed the swords in front of him, using his body to shield Rarity and Fluttershy.

"Who are you?" Rarity asked.

The being ignored her, continuing to address the creatures - the Bohrok, he had called them.

"BEGONE!" He held his swords up, the edges of the swords glowing red and orange.

"What are you -" Fluttershy began to ask.

She was cut off by the being thrusting his swords forward, shooting out a stream of fire towards the Bohrok. The first three were hit by the flames, catching them on fire and sending them running, howling in agony. Two more were knocked back by fireballs.

One of the creatures approached. Its head opened up, and the insectoid thing inside leaped out, flying towards the being's face.

"That's not going to happen," the being said. A transparent barrier appeared around him, knocking the insectoid back. He stepped on it, crushing it beneath his foot. "Anyone else want to be next?" The remaining creatures looked at each other, then to the red being, before turning and running back into the forest. "That's what I thought." He hooked the swords to his back and turned to the ponies. "So, what exactly are you two supposed to be?"

Rarity cleared her throat as she brought down her magic barrier. "I am Rarity and this is my friend Fluttershy. And what might your name be, good...sir?"

The red being didn't answer; instead, he just crossed his arms and stared at Rarity and Fluttershy, studying them. "I've never heard of a Rarity or a Fluttershy. You don't look like you're from around here. Where did you come from?"

"One question at a time," Rarity said. "Your name first."

"Tahu. The Toa of Fire."

"And - and those monsters?" Fluttershy asked, her voice shaking with nervousness.

"They looked like Bohrok," Tahu answered. "The other Toa and I have fought them before, but they looked...different. Maybe Turaga Vakama can explain." He turned and started to walk away.

"Wait a moment. We're coming with you," Rarity called after him.

"And why would you want to do that?" Tahu asked sternly.

"Well, see, you're right. We're not from around here. We're from...someplace else." Rarity wasn't sure how Tahu would react when he heard that they were from another world. "And we've been separated from our friends. Maybe they're in that fortress Fluttershy saw a little ways to the northeast. If that's where you're going, then so are we."

Tahu scoffed. "Fine."

#########################################

It was a fortress, most certainly. The outer wall resembled something Rarity had seen in an old book about ancient Equestria castles. The wall itself was made out of a dark gray rock, and in the center was a large barred gate. Windows and port holes dotted the wall, and she could see little figures moving back and forth along the ramparts.

But that was all she or Fluttershy could make out, considering that the fortress was on the other side of a gorge, and at the bottom of the gorge was a river of lava.

"Well, that explains that horrid stench," she huffed as she covered her nose. "How could you possibly live in an area like this?"

"Easily," Tahu replied. "Guardsmen! Raise the bridge and open the gate! The Toa of Fire has returned!"

Rarity and Fluttershy heard a clicking noise, and a few seconds later, a large stone bridge rose out of the river, molten magma and hardened stone falling off of the sides. The gate at the far end of the bridge began to raise, beckoning the three of them to enter.

Slowly, cautiously, Rarity put a hoof on the bridge.

"Huh. I was expecting it to be scalding hot," she said. "But it's quite cool."

"Come on, you two," Tahu said. "Let's see if these friends of yours are around here, though I doubt it."

Rarity and Fluttershy followed Tahu across the bridge, walking behind him by just a few yards so they could talk in private.

"Do you think we can trust him?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"Fluttershy, darling, he went out of his way to rescue us from those horrible beasts," Rarity answered with a slight chuckle. "I think this fellow is trustworthy enough." She lowered her voice a bit more. "And besides, this person he mentioned earlier might be able to tell us what Kronos wants to know."

The passed through the gate, ignoring the watching eyes of the smaller humanoid figures, all of whom - like Tahu - seemed to be wearing red or yellow metallic armor rather than having actual skin. Now that they were inside the fortress, they could see several buildings - huts, shops, and what looked like a temple, all made out of the same dark gray rock as the outer wall. The semll of the lava was permeating even in here, filling their noses with its sulfurous stench.

"I don't see them," Fluttershy said, breaking the silence after a few minutes of walking. "Do you, Rarity?"

"I'm afraid not. All I see are these beings."

"You mean the Matoran?" Tahu asked.

"Is that what they're called?"

They followed Tahu to the temple. As they got closer, they could see the light coming from a flame, a flame that came into view as they walked through the door. Standing in front of the flame was another smaller being, this one slightly taller than the ones they had seen outside, and it carried a staff with a glowing orb on top.

The figure slowly turned to face them, giving them a good look at the cloak it wore over its shoulders - tan, with a flame pattern stitched into it - and its face, which, like Tahu's, didn't look human, appeared to have what looked to be a beard on it.

"Toa Tahu, you return to us safely." He noticed Rarity and Fluttershy. "You met these beings on your patrol, I assume?"

"He rescued us from some monsters, actually," Rarity said. "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Rarity, and this is my friend Fluttershy. We -"

"Came here from another world, yes?" the small being interrupted her.

"How - how did you know that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Turaga Vakama, I don't understand," Tahu said. "Another world?"

"There are more worlds out there than just our world, Tahu," Vakama said. He returned his attention to Rarity and Fluttershy. "And how could you not be from another world? You are not Matoran, and you appear fully organic."

"Yes, we are," Rarity replied. "And we were separated from our friends when we came here."

"And why did you come here, anyway?" Tahu asked, crossing his arms.

"We're on a mission," Fluttershy answered.

"Elaborate," Tahu said sternly.

"Well, there's a god named Kronos, the God of Dimensions, who asked us to look into something going on in this world," Rarity explained. "He said that someone - oh horse apples, what was his name again? - might use his evil powers to break the dimensional borders, so he asked us to look into it."

"Someone with evil powers?" Vakama repeated. "I assume you're referring to The Makuta."

"I don't know," Rarity said. "Kronos didn't give us a name."

"You agreed to a mission without knowing exactly what it was?" Tahu asked. He scoffed. "That is incredibly stupid."

"Maybe in hindsight, yes," Rairty agreed. "But when it comes to gods, we've learned not to ask too many questions - that tends to annoy them."

"Excuse me, sir?" Fluttershy squeaked. "But who was this person you mentioned a moment ago? Makuti or something?"

"Makuta," Vakama answered. "The Master of Shadows. It is because of him those creatures, the Bohrok, are free."

"But Turaga, the other Toa and I defeated the Bohrok," Tahu protested. "Remember?"

"I remember," Vakama said. He turned to the flame. "I have been consulting the Sacred Fire. It holds all the answers we seek."

He raised his arms. The flame seemed to grow in volume - where it had only been slightly taller than Vakama, it now reached up to the ceiling.

Rarity and Fluttershy watched in silence as Vakama stared at the fire, his arms still raised. Tahu kept his arms crossed, impatiently tapping his foot.

Vakama slowly lowered his arms and turned back to face them. "The creatures are Shadow Bohrok. As the name suggests, they are Bohrok born from the shadows. Makuta created them to finish what the Bohrok began all those months ago - razing the island and destroying the Matoran." He turned to Rarity and Fluttershy. "Perhaps that is why this Kronos sent the two of you here?"

"Maybe, but there are actually seven of us," Rarity said. "There's myself and Fluttershy, and then there's Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Starlight Glimmer. We were separated when Kronos sent us here, and it doesn't look like they're here in town."

"I'm sorry to say that no one in Ta-Koro has reported any other beings such as yourselves," Vakama said. "But they may be in the other villages around the island."

"Other villages?" Fluttershy repeated.

"You are now in Ta-Koro," Vakama explained. "In the jungles to the south is Le-Koro, the village hidden in the trees; northeast of that is Ko-Koro, hidden in the snowdrifts; go east from there and you will come to the desert village of Po-Koro; north of hear, situated on lake Nahoe, is the lovely village of Ga-Koro; and hidden deep underground is the village of Onu-Koro." He turned to Tahu. "Perhaps you could go with them to the other villages so they can find their friends?"

"With respect, Turaga, the defense of Ta-Koro is more important than babysitting a bunch of organic creatures from another world," Tahu said sternly. "As the Toa of Fire, it is my duty to defend the Ta-Matoran."

"A simple 'no' would have sufficed," Rarity scolded him. "You didn't have to be so rude."

"Toa Tahu, your duty is not just to protect the Ta-Matoran," Vakama said. "Your duty is to protect all who need it. And these two are unfamiliar with our island; even if there were no Shadow Bohrok, they still run the risk of getting lost."

Tahu pursed his lips. "Fine," he scoffed. He turned to Rarity and Fluttershy. "We'll leave when you two are ready."

"I think we're ready now," Fluttershy said. "I can't take the smell of the lava anymore."

"I must agree," Rarity put in. "I'm sorry to say it, because this is your home, but breathing in too much lava-heated air is just toxic for us. Please don't take it as an insult."

"No insult at all; truthfully, only Ta-Matoran can handle this environment for extended periods of time," Vakama said with a slight smile - at least, it looked like he was smiling.

"Fine then," Tahu grunted. "I guess we'll go to Le-Koro first. Come on."

Rarity and Fluttershy bid farewell to Vakama before following Tahu out of the temple and back across the bridge.

######################################

They stood on a cliff, overlooking the area to the south. Below them, stretching out as far as the eye could see, was a lush, green, beautiful jungle, its tall trees and thick canopy offering welcome relief from the hot sun.

"And Le-Koro is in that jungle somewhere?" Rarity asked.

"It's hidden really well," Tahu answered. "Only those who live there or have been there know where it is. And maybe Toa Lewa knows where your friends are if they're not in the village."

"I certainly hope so," Rarity said. "I don't think it's a good idea to begin our investigation if we're not together."

"Then quit gawking at the jungle and let's move," Tahu ordered.


	5. Lewa, Toa of Air

LEWA, TOA OF AIR

FROM HIGH ABOVE THE CANOPY, THE JUNGLE AIR SMELLED SO SWEET. IT made Lewa glad he could live among the Le-Matoran as their protector. Ever since he and the other Toa had arrived on the island, he had taken pride in being the Toa of Air and the guardian of Le-Koro.

With the tips of his Air Katana resting against his ankles, Lewa could soar above the canopy of the Le-Wahi jungle, his watchful eyes seeing everything happening below him, from the flutter of the smallest insect's wings to the angry wrath of the largest ash bear. Lewa was quite fond of the intimidating bears, even though many Matoran - including a few Le-Matoran, such as Tamaru - felt they were better off left alone. Indeed, ash bears were known to be quite territorial; even Lewa had to be careful around them, especially if it was a mother with her cubs.

The Toa of Air was so focused on what was going on beneath him that he never noticed the blue thing quickly approaching him from behind, not until it was too late and he was tumbling out of the sky, plummeting to the ground below.

#######################################

Rarity used her tail to swat at some insects. Ever since they'd entered the jungle, following Tahu's lead, they'd been beset upon by the bugs. Fluttershy had tried to ignore them, but as the number of the bugs grew - and some of them even flew into her nose, ears, and eyes - she found it more and more difficult.

"I really don't mind the jungle," Rarity said as she swatted another bug. "But must these insects bother us so much?"

"Do you ever stop complaining?" Tahu asked. "I swear, that's all you've done since we left Ta-Koro."

"Can you blame me?" Rarity asked in return. "I don't go venturing through the jungle all the time. That and I forgot to pack my bug repellent."

 _WHAM!_

Something tall and green slammed into the ground in front of them. As the dust and dirt cleared, they got a better look at the being. He resembled Tahu, only he was green in color, and his face - Tahu had told them that they were known as Kanohi Masks, which gave him and the others like him, the Toa, control over the elements - had more points on it. He still had the same silver chest and shoulder armor, like Tahu, and like Tahu, he was armed with two swords, these shaped more like slimmer versions of another they had seen, one wielded by a half-demon named Inuyasha.

"Oh, my head," the being moaned. "You don't mind if I lay here for a while, do you?"

"On your feet, Toa of Air," Tahu ordered. "What happened?"

The green figure - the Toa of Air - slowly climbed to his feet, using his swords to support himself. Fluttershy hurried to his side, putting her front hooves on him to help him stand up.

"There, there. Take it easy."

"Lewa, you never fall," Tahu said as Fluttershy helped Lewa stand up straight. "Something must have hit you. Am I right?"

Lewa shook his head, clearing it. "That you are, Firespitter. I didn't get a good see-look at it, though."

Laughter filled the air, and a few seconds later, Rainbow Dash came into view, holding her stomach due to laughing so hard.

"Dude, you should have seen the look on your face!" she cried. "Oh, boy, that was priceless!"

"Rainbow Dash, really," Rarity chided. "You could have seriously hurt this Toa."

"Please," Rainbow Dash scoffed with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "If I'd wanted to hurt the guy, I would have done a Sonic Rainboom past him." She turned to the Toa of Air. "You ARE still in one piece, right?"

"As far as I can see."

"Then you're fine." She turned her attention back to Rarity and Fluttershy. "So you've been hanging out with these...what did you call them again?"

"They're called Toa," Fluttershy answered. "From what Toa Tahu here has said, it sounds like they're very brave heroes."

"Hey, that sounds just like us," Rainbow Dash said. "So what's you guys' schtick? You turn into superheroes or something?"

"No," Tahu said flatly. "The Toa control the elements. I'm the Master of Fire."

"And I, Lewa, am the Toa of Air."

"Tahu told us that there were six in total," Rarity put in. "Fire, Air, Stone, Ice, Water, and Earth."

"So let me guess," Tahu said as he studied Rainbow Dash. "You're one of their lost friends, right?"

"Lost friends? Well, I guess that's one way of putting it," Rainbow Dash replied. "That Kronos. He could have told us we'd all be separated when we came here. Seriously, dude, jerk move."

"He probably didn't know that would happen," Fluttershy guessed.

"Oh, my hoof he didn't. That guy seems to know everything. Don't try to defend him like that, Fluttershy. You know as well as I do that he knew this would happen."

"Excuse me," Lewa said, interrupting them. "I don't think-know about you, but I am very uncomfortable on hard-land. Shall we take this conversation upcanopy?"

The three ponies stared at Lewa for a few seconds, confused. "The hay did he just say?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"He hates being on the ground," Tahu translated. "He wants to go back into the trees. That's where the village of Le-Koro is."

"Well why didn't he just say so?" Rarity asked.

"Lewa and the Le-Matoran have their own certain dialect," Tahu explained.

"Treespeak," Lewa put in. "Sometimes it takes the other Matoran a moment or two to understand it."

 _So we have noticed,_ Rarity silently snarked. "Rainbow Dash, have you seen anypony else?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "That's why I was flying around. I was trying to see if I could see the rest of the gang, and I bumped into this guy." She pointed to Lewa with a hoof. "By the way, my bad."

"Nothing to worry-bother about," Lewa said with a casual wave of his hand. "Anyway, anyone for going uptree?"

"May as well," Rarity said. "Assuming anypony else is up there." She turned to Rainbow Dash. "I'm sorry to be a bother, darling, but I'm afraid I haven't quite mastered that self-levitation spell Twilight has been trying to teach me."

"Self-levitation?" Tahu repeated. "Sounds like something you do, Lewa."

Rarity fired up her horn, the bony protrusion shimmering with a light blue aura. The same aura slowly surrouned her own body, and she began to rise up into the air -

Only to flop back to the ground a few seconds later.

"Ouch! See?"

"Yeah, well, if you hadn't burned up those wings at the Young Fliers' Competition, you wouldn't have to worry," Rainbow Dash said as she helped her friend back to her hooves. She put a forelimb around Rarity. "Just try not to wiggle around too much, okay?" She started flapping her wings. "So, Mr. Green, just how far up do we have to go?"

"Not too far-away," Lewa replied. He grabbed a vine and gave it a tug. "Stay sharp, and follow well."

Tahu and the three ponies watched as the Toa of Air was pulled up through the leaves and branches above, disappearing from view.

"Here we go," Rainbow Dash announced, flapping her wings even harder. "Ready, Rare?"

"Launch!"

Rainbow Dash was off like a bullet, rocketing up into the canopy, leaving only the falling leaves and shed feathers in her wake.

"The blue one's quick, isn't she?" Tahu asked.

"Rainbow Dash is one of the fastest fliers in all of Equestria," Fluttershy answered. "Of course, this isn't Equestria, so there may be an even faster flier than Rainbow Dash here. So, um, if you don't mind me asking, how are you going to get up the tree? You can't fly, can you?"

"No, but I can still climb," Tahu answered, taking out his swords.

"Oh my. You're not going to hurt this tree, are you?"

"Relax, would you?" He put the tips of his swords into the bark of the tree and planted his feet against the wood, taking out one sword and stepping up with one foot.

"Oh." She flapped her wings. "I see now."

"Hey, slowpokes!" Rainbow Dash called from high above. "How about you get your fannies moving? You've gotta see this place! It's so cool!"

"Coming, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said quietly. She noticed Tahu slipping on the bark. "Uh, Tahu? Do you need some help?

"No, I do not need some help," Tahu said sternly, still trying to get a grip with his feet. "I just...need...to...There. Bark's a lot slicker than molten rock."

"Just let me know if you need an extra set of hooves, and I'll be right there," Fluttershy offered.

"I told you already," Tahu growled. "I...don't...need...any...help!"

Fluttershy couldn't believe how rude Tahu was. He was certainly rude before, but she got the sense that his heart was in the right place, even if his words were not. And she had been denied helping folks before, but usually politely, with them saying "that's fine, thanks", or something along those lines. She'd rarely ever had anyone snap at her like Tahu had just done.

"Fine then, Mr. Big Shot," Fluttershy snapped back at him. "But if you slip and fall and break your skull, that's on you!" She turned away and continued flying through the trees, joining Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Lewa on a wooden walkway.

"So where's the red guy?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh, that rude Tahu. He makes me so...PEEVED!" Fluttershy howled. "Oh. Excuse my language."

"Never worry-bother about Tahu," Lewa said. "He may be a hot-head, but his heart is still good."

"Heart is still good? You mean, he's rude but nice too?" Rarity asked. "Somehow, I doubt that."

They all turned to the edge of the walkway when they heard Tahu grunting. A second later, his swords clanged against the wood, Tahu having tossed them up. He pulled himself up, climbing to his feet and picking his swords up off the planks.

"I told you I didn't need any help." Fluttershy just glared at him; he was so rude!

"So, Fluttershy, what do you think?" Rainbow Dash asked, putting a foreleg around her fellow Pegasus and pointing to the village just down the walkway from them. The huts were built out of bark and leaves, with small holes for windows and doors. Tiny figures - like the ones she and Rarity had seen in Ta-Koro, but with mostly green and teal colors - moved about the village, some swinging on vines, some running, some hopping, a few flying on massive birds. Fluttershy could hear the sweet sound of flute music coming from somewhere up ahead, mixed in with the calls of birds and the chirping of insects. The sun shone down on them, bathing everything in a warm and beautiful light, the canopy providing just enough shade to keep them from burning under the sun's rays.

"Is it cool or what?"

"Um...Or what," Fluttershy answered.

Rainbow Dash smacked a hoof against her face. "You can't be serious. We're up in the trees! This is as close to Cloudsdale as we're going to get in this place!"

"It does look quite inviting," Rarity admitted. She took a step forward.

Something came down from the canopy, something short and green and wielding what looked like a buzzsaw on a stick.

"Boo!"

Rarity screamed, fired up her horn, and blasted the thing in the face.

"Ouch! That hurt-smarts!"

Rarity finally got a good look at the creature, another being like Turaga Vakama, only this one green, wielding a staff topped with a buzzsaw, and wearing a mask that resembled something she'd seen in one of Twilight Sparkle's science fiction books.

"Oh my goodness! I am so sorry! I hope I didn't hurt you!"

The Turaga sat up, rubbing his mask. "Ouch. I don't think I'll be able to feel my nose for a week."

"Yeah, well, that's what you get for spooking Rarity like that," Rainbow Dash said. "Who the heck are you, anyway?"

"Spook-scaring the visitors again, Turaga Matau?"

Turaga Matau climbed to his feet. "You know me, Toa Lewa," he said. "Always up for a good prank."

"Gee, Rainbow Dash, that sounds an awful lot like someone else I know," Rarity snided.

"You mean me or Gilda?' Rainbow Dash asked.

"Only one of you is here, and it certainly isn't that brute of a griffon."

"Excuse me," Fluttershy said, stepping up to Turaga Matau. "You're a Turaga too? A village elder?"

"Yes. And who - or what - might the three of you be?"

"We might be the ponies from Equestria," Rainbow Dash said. "That's Rarity, she's a unicorn and a famous dress maker, but don't let her daintyness fool you - she certainly knows how to bring the hurt. That's Fluttershy, a Pegasus - like me - and one of my best friends. She may be shy and timid, but one look from her Stare and you'll submit like a newborn foal. And as for me, I am the one, the only, Rainbow Dash!"

Turaga Matau just stared at the cyan-blue Pegasus, unblinking. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

"Is what supposed to mean something?" Rainbow Dash asked, feeling challenged.

"A name like Rainbow Dash doesn't sound very important."

"Don't you know who you're talking to? I'm the best flier in all of Equestria!"

"Uh, Rainbow?' Rarity said. "We're not in Equestria anymore, remember? This is their universe, don't forget."

"I don't think-know what you're talking about," Lewa said, "but nothing can win-beat a Gukko bird for speed."

"Really? Then where is this bird? I'll show you what I can do!"

"Here we go," Rarity moaned, rolling her eyes. "Rainbow Dash is getting competitive again."

"She really needs to learn when to be quiet," Fluttershy whispered.

"I heard that, Flutters," Rainbow Dash called.

 _Wow. Good ears,_ Tahu thought. _Still, I'd like to see her try and beat a Gukko bird. Even Lewa can barely keep up with one._

"So? Where's that bucking bird?" Rainbow Dash challenged Lewa.

"Are you sure?" Lewa asked. Rainbow Dash just nodded her head, a cocky grin on her face. "If you say so." He put two fingers into his mouth and whistled.

A few seconds later, one of the birds Fluttershy had spotted earlier flapped down to meet them. It was long, its cylindrical body and four wings - two on top and two on bottom - looking more like an insect than a bird; the only thing that resembled a bird was the toothy beak protruding from its face.

The bird let out a high-pitched call.

"Gukko, this outlander thinks she's much speed-faster than you. Care to prove her not-right?" Lewa asked the bird.

"Bring it, Feather Brain," Rainbow Dash challenged, scraping at the planks with her hoof.

"Hey, fuzzy face," Tahu said. "Not sure if you know this, but a Gukko bird is pretty quick."

"How quick is quick?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Even I have trouble keeping up when wind-flying," Lewa answered.

"Yeah? Well, maybe you're just 'wind-flying' too slowly," Rainbow Dash said. "Bird, you and me, right now. One, two, three, go!"

She was off, leaving nothing but some dust and spent feathers in her wake.

"Must she do that?" Tahu huffed.

"It's sort of her thing," Rarity answered. "And there goes the bird."

#######################################

It was ridiculous to even consider that a dumb bird could be faster than Rainbow Dash. After all, she was the fastest Pegasus she knew. She was the only Pegasus who could not only go faster than the speed of sound, but she was also the only Pegasus who could perform the fabled Sonic Rainboom, going so fast that she shattered both the sound barrier and the physical light spectrum. It was a destructive move if not careful, capable of shattering mountains and leveling entire sections of forest.

The village went by in a blur of brown and green. She figured she would do one or two passes along the outer edges of the village before joining everyone back on the walkway. She could just barely hear the Le-Matoran speak, but couldn't make out what they were saying.

Something zoomed past her, something tan and gray and fast.

It was the Gukko bird.

"Hey! That's rude!" She picked up the pace, flapping her wings as hard and as fast as she could to catch up to the feathered fiend. "Get back here, you bison's behind!" She stretched her front legs out in front of her, trying to get more speed.

By the time she caught up to the bird, it had already returned to the walkway, and was being patted by Toa Lewa. She landed on the planks and took a few seconds to catch her breath.

"I don't believe it. That thing beat me!"

"We tried to tell you, Windsprinter," Lewa said. "But Gukko says that you're not so slow yourself."

"Wait, you can talk to the bird?" Rainbow Dash asked. She turned to Fluttershy. "Did you know he can talk to the bird?" Her fellow Pegasus just shook her head. "Yeah, well...I guess I'm not as fast as I thought, then."

"Humility from you? I find that hard to swallow, considering how brazenly brash you were earlier," Tahu sneered.

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not a rude jackass," Rainbow Dash snapped.

Fluttershy gasped; covered Rainbow Dash's mouth with her hoof. "I'm so sorry. Excuse her language."

"Yes, that was very rude of you, Rainbow Dash," Rarity agreed. "I know that Tahu seems rude, but I'm sure he doesn't really mean it."

Matau laughed. "No, no, he really does not. His personality, like all Toa, matches his element. In his case, fire. Fire is hot, searing, and seems to not care who or what is in its path. The difference between Tahu and an actual fire, however, is that Tahu has a soul."

"He's right," Tahu said with a nod. "Look, I may seem rude to you, but don't take offense to it. It's just how I am. Just like Lewa can never sit still."

As he was saying that, Lewa was swinging around a low-hanging branch.

Rainbow Dash moved Fluttershy's hoof away from her mouth. "Okay, well, let's go see the town. Meet the locals. And maybe taste some treats - I don't know about you or Rarity, Fluttershy, but I'm starving."

Rarity heard her stomach growl. "It has been quite some time since we last had anything to eat." She turned and started walking down the walkway towards the village.

As she got closer, she could hear the sounds of flutes - she'd heard them earlier, but now it was much more clear. Mixed in with the flutes were the beats of drums and the strumming of some kind of string instrument, like a guitar or a ukelele. She could see the Le-Matoran, each one adorned with a different mask - some swept back, some resembling Matau's, some with masks that she hadn't seen yet - playing the instruments, blowing on the flutes and strumming the strings and beating the drums.

"Hey, I bet Pinkie Pie would get into this," she said. "Hey! You guys do requests?" The Matoran continued to play their music. "Huh. Don't think they heard me."

"I doubt they did," Lewa said as everyone else joined her. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled - a different tone than the one he had used to summon the Gukko bird - causing everyone to stop and turn their attention to them. "See-look, little brothers. We have visitors."

The Le-Matoran stared at them for a moment, before dropping their instruments and rushing at them.

"Uh oh," Rainbow Dash squeaked out. "STAMPEDE!"

The Le-Matoran crowded around the three ponies, pushing the two Toa and the Turaga out of the way. All of them were talking at once, drowning out whatever they were saying. Rarity could only catch bits and pieces of the questions they were asking.

"What kind of rahi are you?"

"You look like Gukko birds mixed with maha goats."

"What's with the horn?"

Fluttershy shrunk back as far as she could, almost bumping into a Le-Matoran wearing a swept-back mask. "Um, I feel a little crowded."

"Same here," Rainbow Dash said.

"I'll handle this," Rarity offered. She fired up her horn, using her magic to push the Le-Matoran back a few feet. "Okay, that's too much! One question at a time, please, if you don't mind."

The entire crowd was shushed into a stunned silence, save for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Over the past several months, on many of their adventures, they had seen Rarity take an authority role, seen her lose her temper, and for such a dainty unicorn who hated violence, she had gotten her hooves - and other parts of her body - bloody on more than one occasion.

The same Matoran that Fluttershy had nearly bumped into walked around to speak to them face to face. "Welcome to sing-song Le-Koro, outlanders," he said, his voice sounding similar to Applejack's cousin Braeburn. "What brings you into our deepwood upcanopy village?"

 _Again with those words_ , Rarity thought. She cleared her throat. "Yes, well, we came here with Toa Tahu in search of our friends - other creatures like us. But from the look of things, only Rainbow Dash is here." She indicated Rainbow Dash with a point of her hoof. "My name is Rarity and this is our friend Fluttershy."

"Um, hello," Fluttershy said quietly.

"Well, nice to greet-meet you," the Le-Matoran said. "Call me Kongu. Speak-tell me, do you like music?"

"Do we like music?" Rarity asked. "Why, Fluttershy and I are members of a group known as the Ponytones back home."

"And if you don't mind me saying," Fluttershy added, "I thought the music I heard you playing earlier was lovely."

"Well then," Turaga Matau said as he joined the Matora, "care to join? Or maybe delight us with something of your own?"

"Hey, Rarity, what about that one you wrote a while ago?" Rainbow Dash asked her unicorn friend. "You know, back when you were still in that funk of yours?"

"Rainbow Dash, really," Fluttershy scolded. "You know that Rarity doesn't like to be reminded of that."

"No, Fluttershy, it's quite alright," Rarity said. "Really, I don't mind at all." She walked to the center of the village and cleared her throat.

Deep down, she knew Fluttershy was right, though. Rarity hated the idea of remembering that dark time in her life, the darkest time she'd ever lived through. She hated remembering how the Decepticon Megatron had nearly ended her life, despised remembering her nearly year-long depression that only ended after they visited the Autobots again - along with some encouraging words from Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. She hated remembering her refusal to eat anything, hated remembering the time she nearly threw herself off the roof of Ponyville Town Hall just to escape the memories and the nightmares.

She hated remembering the whole ordeal.

Rarity took a deep breath, then began.

 _Sensation washes over me_

 _I can't describe it_

 _Pain I felt so long ago_

 _I don't remember_

 _Tear a hole so I can see_

 _My devastation_

 _Feelings from so long ago_

 _I don't remember_

 _Holding on, to let them know_

 _What's given to me, given to me_

 _To hide behind_

 _The mask this time_

 _And try to believe_

 _Blind your eyes to what you see_

 _You can't embrace it_

 _Leave it well enough alone_

 _And don't remember_

 _Cut your pride and watch it bleed_

 _You can't deny it_

 _Pain you know you can't ignore_

 _I don't remember_

 _Holding on, to let them know_

 _What's given to me, given to me_

 _To hide behind_

 _The mask this time_

 _And try to believe_

 _If I can_

 _Remember_

 _To know this will_

 _Conquer me_

 _If I can_

 _Just walk alone_

 _And try to escape_

 _Into me_

 _Sensation washes over me_

 _I can't describe it_

 _Pain I felt so long ago_

 _I don't remember_

 _I'm just holding on, to let them know_

 _What's given to me, given to me_

 _To hide behind_

 _The mask this time_

 _And try to believe_

 _If I can_

 _Remember_

 _To know this will_

 _Conquer me_

 _If I can_

 _Just walk alone_

 _And try to escape_

 _Into me_

Everyone was silent for a moment, before the Le-Matoran began applauding and cheering.

 _If only they knew what that song means to me_ , Rarity thought solemnly.

###########################

The three of them had spent the rest of the afternoon being shown the village of Le-Koro. Tamaru, another Le-Matoran - one a bit clumsier than Kongu and the others - had told them about how Toa Lewa came to their village after, as he put it, "descending from the heavens to free the Matoran from the shadows of The Makuta, as all Toa did".

"Well, looks like we've got a name for the jerk we're supposed to be checking out," Rainbow Dash had said. "Of course, we can't exactly do that if we're missing more than half the group."

They were still unsure why they had been separated. Rarity figured that it had to do with them all going through the gate Kronos conjured up at different times, thus putting them into different parts of this island, but deep down, she wasn't so sure. Even Rainbow Dash had suggested that Kronos had something to do with them getting separated. She hadn't jumped in with anyone, but she did know that Applejack hadn't been too far behind.

Tahu and Lewa had gone off to talk to Turaga Matau - Tahu bringing up the Shadow Bohrok - while the ponies were given the tour of the village.

"So? What do you think?" Tamaru asked.

"It's lovely," Fluttershy answered.

"Yeah, great, it's a nice place, but that doesn't help us find everyone else," Rainbow Dash huffed. "So we did some things, Rarity sang a song, can we please get going now?"

"Rainbow Dash, do you even know your way around the island?" Rarity asked.

"Well, no, but I can get a bird's eye view," Rainbow Dash answered.

"Even so," Tamaru said, "going deepwood during no-sun? Not a good think-plan. I've heard telltales of the Shadow Bohrok, but let me tell you, while you may be able to quickspeed away from a Shadow Bohrok if you're lucky enough, an angry ash bear is a different telltale. An ash bear during suntime is mean enough."

They had been around the Le-Matoran for the past several hours, long enough to pick up on some of their words. "Quickspeed" was their word for run, for instance, and it took them a second to understand that "no-sun" meant night and "suntime" meant day.

They returned to the center of the village after being shown the entire town - there were shops, where Le-Matoran would buy and exchange goods; a nest for the Gukko birds to rest - Tamaru had explained that Le-Koro had its own defense force, the Gukko Air Fleet, led by Kongu - and a massive hive belonging to creatures he called Nui Rama, which showed themselves to be massive mosquito like insects, but were relatively harmless, save for nearly giving Rarity a heart attack out of sheer fright.

Lewa and Tahu were coming out of Matau's hut, the Turaga close behind them.

"Toa Lewa has told me your telltale," Matau said. "I must say, even when compared to the telltales of us Le-Matoran, it sure is a fascinating one. We're willing to help you in any way we can, starting with letting you sleep here for the night."

"Thanks, but we really need to get going," Rainbow Dash said.

"Rainbow Dash, didn't you hear Tamaru?" Rarity asked her. "Besides, it's late, it's dark, and we're tired. Thank you, Turaga Matau. We'd be honored."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. _Speak for yourself._


	6. Dawn Attack

DAWN ATTACK

NIGHT FELL QUICKLY ON THE ISLAND OF MATA NUI. TURAGA MATAU HAD offered the three ponies a spare hut to sleep in for the night, which they retreated to after the festivities of earlier. The Le-Matoran loved to dance and play music, it seemed, and it had worn them out.

 _I bet that if Pinkie Pie were here, she'd love it,_ Rarity thought as she lay on her cot, staring up at the ceiling. There was a hole in the roof, showing Rarity the brilliantly-shining stars of the night sky, one constellation of six stars shining especially brightly. Perhaps they meant something special?

She would have continued to ponder this, had Rainbow Dash not interrupted her. The cyan-blue Pegasus was tossing and turning, her wings popping up and flinging her covers off of her body.

"Feathers," she huffed. "I can't sleep." She pounded on the cot with a hoof. "This thing is so uncomfortable."

"Rainbow Dash, the Le-Matoran were kind enough to allow us to sleep here tonight," Rarity reminded her. "The least you could do is at least try to sleep."

"I want to," Rainbow Dash replied as she fluffed her pillow. "But it's so dang hard."

"I know," Rarity said. She returned her gaze to the stars above. "But until we find everyone else and do what Kronos wanted, we'll just have to make do with it."

"Yeah, yeah." She retrieved her covers and lay back down, laying the blanket over her. "Where do you think everyone else is, anyway?"

"Possibly in the other regions of the island," Rarity guessed. "Remember what Turaga Matau said about the six regions? Ta-Wahi, Le-Wahi, Ko-Wahi, Onu-Wahi, Ga-Wahi, and Po-Wahi, with the Kini Nui temple in the center of the island."

"I remember. You really think we might find the others in one of those places?"

"Well, Fluttershy and I were already at Ta-Koro, and there was nopony there, and you're the only one we found here in Le-Koro." She yawned. "Tahu and Lewa said we'd start going to Ko-Koro within the next day or two."

"They also said it's cold there," Rainbow Dash said. "And that stinks for me – I forgot to bring a coat."

"I can lend you a scarf, if you'd like."

"We'll see. Thanks." She yawned. "Might as well try this sleep thing again." She looked over to Fluttershy, who was fast asleep on her cot. "I don't know how she does it."

"It's been a long day. Feels like longer, though," Rarity replied, before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

################################

Rarity tossed and turned. She didn't like sleeping in an unfamiliar location, and this jungle on this island was about as unfamiliar as it could get for her. The cots had been made out of tree limbs and large leaves and vines woven together, and while she had the foresight to bring along her favorite throw blanket from back home, that didn't help protect her from the chill in the air.

Kicking the blanket off of her, Rarity rolled off the cot, planting all four hooves on the wooden floor of the hut. Judging from the navy blue hue around her, it was sometime in the very early hours of the morning – after midnight, at least. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were still asleep, Rainbow's wings spread out as though she were flying, her mouth hanging open, one leg hanging over the side of the cot, drool pooled on the floor, while Fluttershy was fast asleep, like a filly after a hard day of playing.

Rarity silently trotted over to the window and looked out into the jungle. She could hear the nocturnal creatures, chittering and calling and moving through the underbrush. Very few lights were lit, and even then, they were dim, so dim that she could barely make them out in the darkness. The brightest light, she figured, was coming from Turaga Matau's hut. She could see the shadows of Matau, along with Kongu and the two Toa, silhouetted against the walls of the hut.

 _I wonder what they're talking about?_ she silently asked herself.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, Rarity slowly stepped out of the hut.

As soon as she was outside the safety of the hut's walls, she could feel the blast of cool morning air against her fur and in her nose and mouth. Rarity was never very fond of this type of weather, finding it much too chilly for her liking, and immediately wished she hadn't walked out the door.

Walking across the bridge, going slowly so she didn't end up waking up any of the Matoran, Rarity made her way to the hut. As she got closer, she could hear the voices.

"I just don't think it's a good idea leaving our villages unprotected so we can babysit a bunch of outsiders," Tahu was growling.

"They do not think-know their way around the island," Lewa replied. "I think-guess we should help-aid them."

"And I 'think-guess' your brain's more melted than a Ta-Matoran working the lava breaks," Tahu growled back.

"Now now," Turaga Matau said. "There's no reason to infight about this. You both make valid points. Isn't that right, Kongu?"

"I think-guess so, Turaga," Kongu said. "If they want to find their friends, then they need help-aid. I question-wonder if we can spare some Matoran from each village to help them?"

"And lower the numbers of the Ta-Koro Guard, the Le-Koro Air Defense, and the Onu-Koro Ussalry?" Tahu asked. "Out of the question, Kongu."

"Would you rather they fend for themselves?" Matau asked bluntly.

"Well, I….That is…." Tahu's voice caught in his throat. "No, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that we don't exactly have the Matoran power to do that, is all."

"You agreed to bring them to Le-Koro," Lewa pointed out. "Surely you can footwalk with them to the other villages to find their missing friends?"

Tahu was silent. He pinched the bridge of his nose – or at least, the part on his mask that could be considered a nose – with his fingers as he tried to think.

Rarity took a small step forward, craning her neck and turning he ears to hear what Tahu was going to say.

Her hoof stepped on a loose floorboard, causing it to creak.

The four inhabitants of the hut turned to the doorway, Tahu whipping out his swords. "Who goes?"

Rarity slowly stepped into the light. "Please forgive me for listening in. I was merely curious, is all."

Tahu relaxed, putting his swords away. "Oh. It's just you. What do you want now?"

"Well, for one thing, you can stop being such a rude…I'm not even sure if I should say the word," Rarity answered. "I don't exactly appreciate the way you've been speaking to Fluttershy and I since we arrived here."

"That's my nature," Tahu said curtly. "And I'm sure you didn't come here this early in the morning just to lecture me about my manners."

"Well, no."

"Then why are you here?" Kongu asked, much more politely than Tahu.

"You see, and I mean no offense to your hospitality, but I just couldn't sleep," Rarity answered. "And when I looked out the window of the hut, I saw your hut was on, and I, well, became curious. I'm sorry."

"No reason to be sorry," Lewa said with a smile. He waved Rarity into the hut. "Please, come join us by the fire."

Rarity slowly stepped into the warmth of the hut, shooting an angry side glance at Tahu. She still didn't care much for his attitude; even if his heart was in the right place, that still didn't account for his rudeness.

If there was one thing Rarity enjoyed, it was sitting by the warm glow of a fire, whether it be in a fireplace or a campfire out in the wilderness – what few times she even bothered to go out camping. Fire could be destructive, certainly, but it also brought warmth, comfort, and protection to anypony sitting around it.

"So, you just couldn't sleep?" Kongu asked.

"I'm afraid not," Rarity answered. "Again, I mean no offense to your hospitality. It's just the way I am. I can barely sleep when I visit my mother and father in Fillydelphia back home sometimes."

"So can you please speak-tell us more about your world?" Turaga Matau asked.

Rarity had never been asked to talk about Equestria before, as everyone she and her friends had ever met thus far had gone to Equestria before, at least for a little while. She'd never had to describe Ponyville to anyone – hadn't had to describe Canterlot, or Las Pegasus, or Cloudsdale, or even some of the greatest pony celebrities such as Countess Coluratura or Sapphire Shores. Every one of her interdimensional friends, from Optimus Prime and the Autobots, to Isaac and Doris, from Cloud Strife and his friends to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, had all been to Equestria, had all seen it.

But to describe it to beings who had never been outside of their world, who were probably ignorant of the concept of the multiverse until just twelve hours ago? That was an entirely different matter.

Still, they had asked, so she figured that she should do her best to give them what they wanted.

"Well, where can I start?" she asked. "I suppose I should start with my hometown of Ponyville. It's the perfect little village, all the niceties of a big city with a touch of rural. Mayor Mare does her best to keep everything running smoothly, but there are days where she just ends up a bit too frazzled, poor thing. Oh, and my other friends live in Ponyville as well – Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Starlight Glimmer. Starlight Glimmer wasn't very friendly when we first met her, but she's slowly learning what it means to be a good friend. Twilight's been teaching her.

"But I'm sure you want to know about more cities, don't you?" The four beings nodded. "Well, the capital of Equestria is Canterlot, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna rule over the land. Celestia handles the day and Luna handles the night. They can raise the sun and moon, respectively. I know, I know, it sounds ludicrous, but that's just the way my world works. I suppose you could say that each world runs on some sort of inherent magic. Could the same be said of your world, considering that you have heroes who control the elements?"

"I think-guess so," Kongu answered.

"We can control elements, too, my friends and I," Rarity continued. "Not the natural elements like the Toa, of course. We have what we refer to as the Elements of Harmony. I myself represent the Element of Generosity. Fluttershy is Kindness, and Rainbow Dash is Loyalty. The rest of my friends represent the elements of Honesty, Laughter, and Magic, respectively. We still have yet to see which element Starlight Glimmer may represent, though I'm thinking it might be something along the lines of Redemption."

"So these friends of yours are really here on the island as well?" Lewa asked.

"I believe so. After all, we all jumped through the portal together," Rarity replied. She yawned. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm a little tired. Not sleeping much during the night will do that."

"Then perhaps you should go back and get some sleep then," Turaga Matau said. "We can continue this chat-talk later, when you are feeling more awake."

"Thank you, Turaga," Rarity said with a slight bow.

She walked out of the hut, leaving the warmth of the fire behind, as she made her way back to the hut where they were staying, hoping that she would stay asleep for the entire night.

###########################################

The three ponies were awoken with a start.

"What the buck is going on?!" Rainbow Dash yelled over the sounds of the gukko birds squawking and the Le-Matoran shouting orders.

They looked out the window. The Le-Matoran on the walkways were throwing their disks at something the three ponies couldn't see. Gukko birds flew this way and that, their pilots maneuvering the massive animals while their riders threw more disks.

Fluttershy craned her neck to look down into the underbrush, and immediately shrunk back.

"It's those creatures," she squeaked. "The Shadow Bohrok."

"They don't sound so tough," Rainbow Dash boasted. "Time for some action. YAAAAAAH!" She zoomed out of the hut, knocking the door off of its hinges.

It was easy for Rainbow Dash to figure out what these "Shadow Bohrok" creatures Fluttershy had mentioned were – those domed creatures, jet black, wielding shields that looked like miniature jackhammers. She plowed into one of the creatures at her top speed, shattering it into several pieces.

"Ha! Brittle."

She was nearly torched by a stream of fire from Tahu's swords as he burned another Shadow Bohrok into ashes.

"Wow!"

"Watch where you're going, you idiot!" Tahu snapped.

Rainbow Dash banked upwards, back up into the canopy, smashing through another Bohrok as it was climbing the bark. Her wings flapped as she flew up into the trees, the growls of the monsters all around her, filling her ears.

A swift gust of wind and she was back on the walkway, standing between Tamaru and another Le-Matoran.

"What the heck?"

Toa Lewa landed next to her, the tips of his twin swords attached to his ankles. "There we go. A little quick-speed aid-help to get uptree, eh?"

"Well, I was trying to get a better angle so I could make another pass at those critters," Rainbow Dash snorted, pointing to the Shadow Bohrok with a hoof. "And it looks like some of them are climbing up here now!"

Lewa looked down along with her. Several of the black creatures were using their shields to dig into the bark, climbing up the tree to get at them. One of them opened its dome-shaped head, revealing a small, sickly green face inside, which leaped out at Rainbow Dash.

"What the buck!"

A swift slash of Lewa's sword cut the face in two, just inches away from Rainbow Dash's muzzle!

"Never worrybother," he said assuredly. "Allow me." He put his swords together, pointing them down at the Shadow Bohrok. "I call upon the power of wind!"

A huge gust of wind blew through Rainbow Dash's mane. She could see the air swirling around Lewa's swords, much as it would when her friend, the half-demon Inuyasha, used a sword technique he called the Wind Scar. She watched, her hooves digging into the wooden walkway, as the wind continued to swirl around Lewa's swords, until –

 _WHOOSH!_

The powerful gust felt like a hurricane, aimed straight at the Shadow Bohrok, knocking them off of the tree and onto the ground. They shattered upon impact.

"Holy hayseeds," Rainbow Dash breathed.

"I thinkguess Tahu could use some help-aid," Lewa said. "Care to join me, Rainbow Dash?"

"You bet, Big Green!"

###################################

Rarity had joined Tamaru in defending the walkway, firing magic from her horn while Tamaru and the other Le-Matoran threw their disks. She was nowhere near as powerful a magic user as Twilight Sparkle – who, alongside Princess Celestia, was one of the most powerful magic users she knew – but her blasts were enough to dislodged the Nuvhok from the trees.

She chanced a glanced downward, saw Lewa zoom by, his wind causing more of the Shadow Bohrok to fall to the ground far below. Rainbow Dash wasn't too far behind the Toa of Air, flying so fast she was smashing through the Bohrok.

Rarity was so focused on what Lewa and Rainbow Dash were doing that she never noticed the Shadow Bohrok getting close enough for them to launch their krana at her, not until a krana went flying past her head, missing her by just a few inches. With a yelp, she jerked to the right, bumping into Tamaru, knocking him off balance as well.

Tamaru instinctively pushed Rarity off of him, pushing her towards the edge of the walkway. Her hoof slipped, and she fell.

Her heart leaped into her throat and her stomach churned as she fell through the foliage, her breath driven from her lungs and pain racking her body as she slammed hard into the ground below, her spine taking the brunt of the landing.

The pain was almost too much to bear. She could feel it all throughout her body – her head, her neck, her legs and her hooves, even in her tail and her mane. She could barely breathe, and trying to so much as move caused her to feel even more pain.

She was in so much pain, her vision blurred from the agony racking her body, that she barely noticed the Shadow Bohrok approaching. They growled, ready to launch their krana at her, and there was nothing she could do about it, except wait for the end – of her free will, and possibly, her life.

The closest Shadow Bohrok stopped in its track as it became surrounded by a familiar light purple aura. It growled and roared as it was lifted into the air –

And ripped brutally in half!

Standing where the Shadow Bohrok had been, her horn glowing, her wings flared, an angry and determined look on her face, was none other than the Princess of Friendship herself, Twilight Sparkle.

"Rarity, are you okay?" Twilight asked. Rarity opened her mouth to answer, but all that came out was a painful moan. "Don't move. I'll take care of these monsters."

Twilight leaped over Rarity's inert form and fired at the closest Nuvhok, obliterating it with one blast of her powerful magic. She leaped out of the way of another attacking Shadow Bohrok, her back hooves kicking it in the faceplate as hard as she could.

Another Shadow Bohrok charged at her. She quickly got down as low as she could, causing the Nuvhok to slam right into its comrade. She fired up her horn, letting out a powerful blast of magic, completely disintegrating the two Bohrok.

Twilight flared her wings and took to the air, her hooves glancing off of the arm shield of an attacking Nuvhok. She flew high into the air, took aim, and fired her magic. The purple beam of magic energy hit the Shadow Bohrok, obliterating it in an instant.

She landed next to Rarity, who had managed to roll over onto her side. "Are you okay, Rarity?"

"Well, I can barely move, but other than that, I'm okay," Rarity answered.

Twilight turned to the approaching Shadow Bohrok, some of them stepping over the remains of their fallen comrades. They all growled and hissed. The closest one opened its face plate.

Twilight spread her legs and flared her wings, her front hoof scraping the ground. She fired up her horn as the Bohrok launched its krana at her.

She prepared to fire.

The krana froze, becoming encased in ice, and it fell to the ground, shattering upon impact.

"Who – what –?" Rarity began to ask, stopping when she saw another Toa, a tall white one armed with a shield in one hand and a double bladed staff in the other, walk past. She glanced up at his mask, which had one eye resembling a telescopic scope.

"Kopaka!" Twilight cried.

"You two stay there," Toa Kopaka said quietly. "Leave the rest of the Bohrok to me." He raised his staff. Rarity felt a cold wind pick up; saw the first hints of a snowstorm in the air. She couldn't help but shiver.

Lewa landed next to the new Toa, Rainbow Dash joining them. "Hey Twilight. Who's your friend?"

"Say Kopaka," Lewa said, "join forces?"

"May as well," Kopaka said as Lewa raised his swords, causing the wind to pick up even more.

Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash shivered, huddling together to keep warm against the cold wind, watching in awe as the Shadow Bohrok were frozen by the snow and ice, before getting blown away by the harsh wind. Some hit the trees, shattering into pieces, some more were blown through the jungle.

The two Toa lowered their weapons, cancelling out their powers. The warmth of the jungle returned as the wind and snow died down.

"Many thanks, Kopaka," Lewa said as he and the other Toa put their weapons away. "Those Shadow Bohrok were giving us a trouble-bad time."

"I'm sure they were," Kopaka said softly. He turned to the three ponies, Twilight and Rainbow Dash slowly trying to pick Rarity up off the ground; the pearl white unicorn winced in pain and agony. "I see you've met some too."

Rarity gasped as Rainbow Dash and Twilight continued to support her. "That hurts!"

"At least nothing seems to be broken," Rainbow Dash said.

Rarity let out one more gasp –

And she fell limp in her friends' hooves.


	7. Kopaka, Toa of Ice

KOPAKA, TOA OF ICE

RAINBOW DASH FELT SO HELPLESS, WATCHING RARITY LYING ON THAT TABLE, with only a Le-Matoran medic named Taipu to watch over her. She had only just managed to regain consciousness after Lewa brought her back up into the trees, and Taipu, being the village medic, had the Toa of Air bring her to his hut so he could administer some medical care.

If only she knew what he was grinding up in that little stone bowl of his.

"Dude, if she doesn't pull through –" Rainbow Dash started to warn.

"Don't you worry-bother, Windsprinter," Taipu said as he continued to grind his ingredients together.

"If you don't mind me asking," Twilight asked as she and Flutteshy joined Rainbow, "what's in that bowl?"

"Some leaves, fruit seeds, and essence of gukko," Taipu answered.

"I don't think I want to know what that…essence…is," Rarity said. She hissed as another wave of pain went through her body. "Whatever it is you're doing, Taipu, can you please make it quick? I'm not sure I can handle this pain."

"You've been through worse," Rainbow Dash said.

"Must you remind me, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity growled through clenched teeth.

Taipu set the bowl down on a small stand next to the little cot Rarity was laying on. He dipped his fingers into the ointment he had mixed up. "Whitehorn, this may be a little notwarm."

"A little what?" Rarity asked.

She got her answer when Taipu put his hand on Rarity's back. The ointment felt cold through her fur and against her skin. She couldn't help but gasp as Taipu began to apply the concoction. She could feel it start to seep into her skin, getting absorbed into her muscles.

"You should be feeling better soon, Whitehorn," Taipu said. "But I still think-guess you should rest for another day."

"Another day? But Tahu wanted to get moving to the next village soon!" Rarity protested.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed. "He said we'd be going to Ko-Koro soon."

"I just came from there," Twilight told her. "It's kind of cold. That's where I met Toa Kopaka." She turned back to Rarity. "Maybe we should just let you here to rest. Doctor's orders."

"You know Tahu's going to be a little upset about this," Fluttershy squeaked.

"That's putting it lightly," Rarity said.

"I don't get it," Twilight said, confused.

"Twilight, dear, let's just say that Tahu, at first, isn't the easiest Toa to get along with," Rarity replied. "But if Taipu says so, then it looks like we're staying in Le-Koro at least another day. So go show Twilight the village, assuming it's been cleaned up."

"We Le-Matoran clean up fast," Taipu said as he washed out his bowl. "So go enjoy yourselves. Let Whitehorn recover."

"Well, if you say so," Twilight said. "Get well, soon, Rarity," she added as she and the other ponies turned to leave.

###############################

Rainbow Dash zipped through the air, startling a flock of gukko birds. She giggled to herself as they squawked in anger and frustration. It was always funny, at least in her mind, to spook birds like that, even though Fluttershy objected, as she was sure the timid yellow Pegasus would do right now if she saw her.

From this far up, it didn't even look like there was a village hidden in the canopy of the jungle. There were no signs of huts or the earlier battle with the Shadow Bohrok. In some ways, it reminded her of the Forbidden Jungle in the southern region of Equestria, where she and her friends had had more than one adventure with A.K. Yearling, better known as Daring Do.

She would have continued to fly, would have continued to taste the fresh jungle air, had she not heard Tahu's cry of anger.

"Well, guess Rarity and Fluttershy were right," she mused to herself. "Sounds like Mr. Firespitter decided to throw his tantrum." She banked left, swopping down towards the trees, flying down through the canopy.

"This whole thing is turning out to be nothing but one big inconvenience!" Tahu grumbled to Lewa, Kopaka – the tall white and silver Toa they had met earlier who, according to Twilight, could control the power of ice – and the other two ponies.

"I'm sorry, Tahu," Fluttershy said softly. "But, well, you see, Rarity's injured and needs to recover. Taipu said so."

"And I agree with his diagnosis," Twilight added. "If we try to move Rarity now, it'll extenuate her injuries, making them worse. And look on the bright side, you don't have to worry about going to Ko-Koro, considering Kopaka and I came here."

"It was Turaga Nuju's idea," Kopaka said softly. "Said it was the closest village, and there was a chance of finding another one of these…outlanders…in Le-Koro."

"We're ponies, thank you very much," Twilight told him with a friendly smile.

"It doesn't matter!" Tahu cried. "We were supposed to leave today! I can't be the only Toa who wants to get back to his village, am I?"

"You need to calm down, brother," Kopaka said coldly.

"I'll calm down when I'm not being inconvenienced," Tahu growled back.

Lewa quickly put himself between them. "We are same-hearted, brothers. And this is no time to infight." He indicated the ponies. "These otherlanders need our help-aid finding their brothers and sisters, and is it not our duty to help those who need it?"

"We also have a duty to the Matoran," Tahu argured.

"Listen, guys, we're not trying to impose on your jobs," Twilight said as calmly and diplomatic as she could. "But it's like a Ko-Matoran named Matoro told me Nuju said: Since we don't know our way around the island, it would help to have some guides, and the Turaga said that the Toa would make the best guides."

"Vakama said the same thing, and look where I am," Tahu grumbled. "Babysitting these fur balls from another world."

Rainbow Dash glared at the Toa of Fire, snorting and huffing and gritting her teeth. "Twilight, you'd better hold me back. If not, I'm going to knock him off this platform."

"Easy, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, waving Rainbow Dash back with a wing. She turned back to Tahu. "Listen, I'm sorry to inconvenience you all. But we can still make up for lost time trying to find everypony else on this island. Speaking of which…." She turned to Rainbow Dash and Flutteshy. "Have you two seen or heard anything about Starlight Glimmer?" Both Pegasi shook their heads. "That's odd. We jumped through the portal together. You'd think we would have both ended up at Ko-Koro."

"When Rarity and I went through, we both arrived at Ta-Koro," Fluttershy said.

Tahu rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed huff – something Twilight noticed in the short time she had been talking to him was a common occurrence. Even Kopaka confirmed that.

She tilted her head quizzically at Tahu, waiting for him to say something.

"Lewa, are the underground tunnels to Onu-Koro still open in the jungle?" he asked after a moment.

"They are."

"Wait, tunnels?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Aw, nuts. That means I won't be able to fly."

"Are they really dark?" Fluttershy asked softly.

"Not unless you have a lightstone," Kopaka answered. "They're also hard to navigate if you don't know the way. Even a few Onu-Matoran have gotten lost. But not for long; they always find their way back."

"Helps that they can see in the dark," Tahu added.

Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. "Those cheaters!"

"Must come from living underground," Twilight figured. "I'd like to talk to some of them and learn more about their biology." From the corner of her eye, she saw Kopaka turn and walk away. "Kopaka? Where are you going?"

"Just someplace quiet to think," Kopaka replied as he walked down the platform.

"Kopaka! Wait up!" Twilight called as she galloped after him.

##################################

Kopaka stood on one of the many bridges overlooking the jungle below. He could see an ash bear trudging through the thick underbrush, her cubs not far behind. Somewhere off in the distance, a gukko squawked, and he heard the distinct buzz of a nui rama swarm. Despite how long he and the other Toa had been on the island, since that day they descended from the heavens after being called by the Toa Stones, he still found himself amazed by the different ecosystems of each region. Le-Koro was so much different than Ko-Koro; one was lush and full of life, whereas the other was almost devoid of life, save for the occasional muaka tiger.

 _Speaking of muakas,_ he thought as Twilight Sparkle joined him. "You know, I'm still amazed you sent that tiger running."

"What was I supposed to do?" Twilight asked. "Let it rip me to shreds?"

"No. I was merely amazed. Even I have difficulty with the muakas of Ko-Wahi. You must have a lot of experience dealing with dangerous wildlife."

"Come to Equestria some time and I'll introduce you to the Everfree Forest," Twilight responded. She took a deep breath of the sweet jungle air. "You could have stayed. Tahu was starting to mellow out a little bit."

"I told you, I needed to be alone to think," Kopaka replied.

"About what?"

"A lot of things. For example, the existence of other worlds." He turned to the little purple alicorn. "You and your friends are proof of that. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if the Turaga had already known this. They have secrets. The only Matoran who knows those secrets is Matoro."

"Because he's Turaga Nuju's interpreter?" Twilight guessed. "I didn't want to sound rude, but why does Nuju only talk in clicks and whistles?"

"He always has. As long as anyone's known him." He leaned against the rail of the bridge. Twilight could see it starting to freeze from his touch.

"Toa of Ice. That's you. Guess it explains your cold personality. No offense."

Kopaka shook his head, but said nothing. Not that Twilight could blame him; her pitiful attempt at small talk was going nowhere. She had already learned as much as she could from Nuju and Kopaka back in Ko-Koro, the village hidden in the glaciers of Mount Ihu, and while she was relieved to be reunited with Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, she still had no idea where Applejack, Pinkie Pie, or Starlight Glimmer were on the island. They could have been anywhere.

"Shouldn't you go check on your friend, the one who was hurt?" Kopaka asked after a moment of silence.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to see how Rarity's doing," Twilight agreed. "Want to come along, Kopaka?"

Kopaka pushed away from the railing; the ice that had been forming began to melt away. "May as well."

Twilight followed Kopaka down the walkway and over another bridge to the hut Rarity was in when they heard her voice.

"Hold that pose, Lewa. Right there. That's good. Steady now."

As Twilight stepped up to the doorway, she couldn't help but giggle at what she was looking at. Lewa was posing, one sword held above his head, the other out to his side, with Rarity levitating a sketchbook and a pencil.

"How much longer, Whitehorn?" Lewa asked, his voice sounding strained. "My arms are getting tired."

"Just another line, and….VOILA! You may lower your arms, Lewa, thank you." Lewa's arms fell limply to his sides as Rarity turned her sketchbook around for Twilight and Kopaka to see, showing them a near picture perfect sketch of Lewa. "What do you think?"

"It looks good, Rarity," Twilight complimented. "How about you, Kopaka?"

Kopaka's scope zoomed in and out as he examined the drawing. "What is it supposed to be, some sort of painting?"

"It's a sketch for a new clothing line," Rarity answered as she lowered the sketchbook. "I still need to think of a name for the line, but this particular one, well, I'm at a loss. Can someone help me out here?"

"Can't help you there," Kopaka said coldly.

"Neither can I," Lewa added. "But if you'll excuse me, time for me to go windflying."

"Windfly," Rarity mused. "Wind…fly…." She let out a sudden gasp. "IDEA! I shall call this particular piece _Fly With The Wind_! What do you think?"

"I think it's perfect, Rarity," Twilight said. "Do you have an idea for Kopaka?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't, not just yet," Rarity answered with a sad shake of her head. "But give me some time. I'm sure I'll come up with something for both Kopaka and Tahu."

"Do as you like, but remember, come tomorrow, we'll be leaving for Onu-Koro," Kopaka said as he turned to leave.

Twilight watched as the Toa of Ice walked down the walkway and around the corner, off to be by himself again. She turned back to Rarity, who simply shrugged her shoulders, though even that small act seemed to send a wave of pain through her body, judging by the grimace on her face.

Twilight walked over to her unicorn friend and nuzzled against her. "Get some rest, Rarity."

"What do you make of this whole thing, Tahu?" Kopaka asked his fellow Toa as they passed each other on the bridge.

"You mean those furry little beings? I find them a bit annoying at times," Tahu grumbled.

"Not that," Kopaka said. "I mean the existence of other worlds. Do you think the Turaga may have known about this?"

Tahu shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows with them. But I just can't wait to get moving. So if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go watch Lewa fly with the blue one."

"Do as you like, brother," Kopaka said as the two Toa went their separate ways.

If Tahu were being truthful with himself, he really didn't care for the blue flyer. Yes, she was fast, not as fast as a gukko bird, but that didn't alleviate anything he felt about her or the other beings – those ponies, they had said they were called. While he saw the bravery they displayed during the battle earlier, he still found them, for lack of a better term, odd. Perhaps it was their appearance, being slightly taller than the average Matoran and covered in fur rather than donned in armor. Maybe it was the fact that they weren't natives of the island. Whatever the reason, Tahu, despite warming up to them just a little bit, couldn't find it in himself, at least not yet, to say that he actually liked them.

Especially considering that they were keeping him from his main duty of protecting Ta-Koro from the Shadow Bohrok. Sure, Jaller was a capable Captain of the Guard, but even he, despite how much he tried, could only do so much.

Even if he hadn't been tasked by Vakama to help these ponies find their friends, Le-Koro wasn't his domain. It belonged to Lewa, just as Ko-Koro also belonged to Kopaka. Each Toa, like the Matoran under their protection, belonged to a certain region of the island. It wasn't uncommon for the Toa to travel to the different regions and villages, but the average Matoran, unless he or she were on some sort of mission for the Turaga – or was named Takua the Chronicler – mainly stayed in their respective villages.

He passed the hut Rarity was resting in. He couldn't help but look in, where he saw the little white unicorn running a graphite stick across a sheet of paper, both surrounded by a light blue aura as she levitated them.

"What are you doing?" he asked, curious.

"Merely sketching some ideas for new designs to make when we get home, once our mission is complete," Rarity answered. She turned the paper around for Tahu to see. The picture resembled Lewa, at least in terms of the color scheme.

"And what is that?" he asked.

"A dress," Rarity replied. "Which is an article of clothing we ponies wear back home for certain occasions, such as the Grand Galloping Gala."

Tahu scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever that is."

"A party back home," Rarity said. "So what do you think?"

"Is that why Lewa was complaining earlier?"

"I'm afraid so. I'll have to apologize again when I see him.

"Tahu," Kopaka called from around the corner. "Twilight Sparkle wants to talk to you."

Tahu scoffed. "Wonder what she wants now?" he mused as he joined the Toa of Ice and the little purple winged unicorn. "What is it?"

"Look, I know you want to get a move on. So do I. But I was talking to Kopaka a minute ago and we agreed that maybe we should figure out what we're going to do after we get to Onu-Koro."

"What's there to think about?" Tahu asked. "We go to the next village."

"Yeah, but which one is that? Your village?"

"I wish."

"There are two ways we can go after Onu-Koro," Kopaka said. "We can head east to Ga-Koro, or we can head north to Po-Koro."

"Po-Koro's in the desert, right? Well, maybe we should go to Ga-Koro after Onu-Koro," Twilight figured. "Get some water for the trip."

"Maybe if you're lucky, Gali will agree to tag along with us," Tahu said halfheartedly.

"I guess we'll find out," Twilight said.


	8. The Road to Onu-Koro

THE ROAD TO ONU-KORO

RARITY WAS FINALLY FIT TO CLIMB BACK ONTO HER HOOVES. ALL FOUR LEGS felt like they had fallen asleep, so it took her a few moments to get the blood flowing through them. She stretched and flexed her legs and back, trying to loosen up her muscles.

There was another thing nagging at her besides her numb, sleeping legs: Her stomach was growling. Tamaru had come by every now and then with some sort of seed cocktail for her to drink, but that did nothing to quell her hunger. Rarity needed to get something to eat, and she needed to get that something now.

Leaving the hut, stepping out into the cool night air, she found Le-Koro lit only by a few torches and the lights coming from some huts, one of which she recognized as Turaga Matau's. There were no Le-Matoran to be seen, nor could she see the Toa or the other ponies.

Rarity's rumbling stomach led her over to a basket filled with some sort of fruit. She recognized some as looking like berries, and there were some that resembled apples and peaches that smelled so sweet, her mouth couldn't help but water.

She was tempted, oh so tempted, to just take the entire basket, despite her generous nature. Then again, this basket of fruit probably belonged to Kongu, or Tamaru, or some other Le-Matoran, she wasn't sure. It wouldn't have been right to just take even one berry without permission, but she was so hungry!

"That would be a sorry-bad idea," a voice said as Rarity reached out to take a bite of the fruit. She turned, saw Kongu approaching. "Not a good thought-idea to take a gukko's food."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Rarity said, lowering her head in shame. "But you see, I just need something to eat before I collapse from hunger."

Kongu smiled. "Is that all? Well, then, walk-follow me."

Rarity followed Kongu down the walkway. She was glad that the little Le-Matoran had come along when he had. If he hadn't – and if he hadn't warned her that that basket held food for a gukko bird – she was sure that she'd be dealing with an angry bird by this point. Then again, she didn't really care, with how loudly her stomach was growling.

Fortunately, Kongu happened to have a basket full of fruit at his hut. He set the basket down on a small table. Rarity sat down as Kongu set a plate down on the table, putting what looked like a pear on the plate.

"All yours."

Rarity took a bite out of the pear. It leaked red juice, like a cherry, and tasted as sweet as an orange. She chewed and swallowed, before taking another bite.

Three bites later, the fruit was gone. Rarity used her magic to wipe her lips with a cloth.

"Apologies for my table manners," she said. "I'm usually much more composed than that when it comes to food."

Kongu waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry-think about it," he said. He sat down across from her and took a pear from the basket. "So, your sing-song from before….Was there a special meaning behind it?"

"Sorry?"

"Turaga Matau says all sing-songs have special meanings. Did yours?"

"Oh, the song I sang. Well, I suppose you could say there was a certain meaning behind it. You see, it was, well…." She wasn't sure if she could continue. She may have put it all behind her, but it was still a painful memory, thinking about what had happened to her nearly two years ago, how she nearly lost her life at Megatron's hands.

"It's a long story," she said after a moment.

"I have all night."

"I'm afraid I don't. Considering that Tahu wants to leave for this Onu-Koro first thing in the morning. I suppose I can try to give you the abridged version."

Rather than tell Kongu about how she and her friends had become the Elements of Harmony, she decided to start from when their extradimensional adventures began. She told Kongu about meeting Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Yuffie Kisaragi, Cid Highwind, Vincent Valentine, and Barrett Wallace, and how they helped them fight against someone who claimed to be a bringer of darkness; she told him about the Autobots and Decepticons, making sure to leave out the part where she was Megatron's prisoner; she told him about Isaac and Doris, and their quest for the seven magical wishing stones known as Dragon Balls; she told him about the Predacon, whom Fluttershy had calmed with her kindness; she told him about Inuyasha, and his fight against a bounty hunter who had joined forces with the brother of the Queen of the Changelings; she told him about the Power Rangers, and their first meeting with Kronos.

The whole time, Kongu stayed silent, nodding every so often to let Rarity know that he was listening. He slowly chewed on a piece of fruit as she continued her story.

"Sounds like you've had quite a few adventures," he said as he chewed on an apple.

"You could say that, yes," Rarity replied as she levitated another pear over to her. She chewed on the pear for a little bit, before glancing out the window. Judging from the navy blue hue of the sky, it was the early morning.

She took a drink of some water Kongu had given her before wiping her mouth clean again. "Thank you, Kongu. But I really need to get going. I may be able to get in at least an hour of sleep before Tahu wakes us all up."

"Sure."

Rarity gave him a slight nod of her head before turning to leave.

######################################

"All right, you. Wake up."

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes at the sound of Tahu's stern voice. "Okay," she moaned groggily. "I'm up." She lay her head back down on the pillow, closing her eyes and trying to go back to sleep.

"Come on, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said. She nudged her Pegasus friend with a hoof. "Let's wake up. We'll get something to eat and then be on the way to Onu-Koro."

Rainbow Dash slowly raised her head again. "Oh, fine," she said as she yawned.

Rarity shook her head, struggling to fling the sleep from her eyes. After her little visit with Kongu, she'd barely gotten two hours of sleep. She blinked several times and stretched her front legs, trying to wake up.

Tahu stood at the door, his arms crossed. "You know, the longer you take, the more time you waste. Hurry it up."

"Just give us a few minutes," Twilight said. "We need to get some breakfast first."

"And a cup of coffee or something," Rainbow Dash added. "My mouth is really dry."

Tahu just rolled his eyes; these otherworlders could be so needy.

Ten minutes later, the four ponies were seated around a table in Turaga Matau's hut, a bowl of fruit in front of each of them, along with a cup of watered-down nectar. Tahu crossed his arms and tapped his foot, waiting impatiently for them to finish.

"So impatient," Kopaka mused.

"Excuse me for wanting to get this over with as soon as possible," Tahu shot back.

Lewa landed next to the other two Toa; he had been flying laps around the village. "Otherworlders are hungry-starving," he pointed out.

Rainbow Dash finished her cup, washing down the last of her fruit. "Okay, who's ready to go?"

"I am," Rarity said.

"Same," Twilight added.

"I am, if you really want to leave right now," Fluttershy said.

"It's about time," Tahu grumbled. "Lewa, where's the closest entrance to the Onu-Koro Highway?"

"Just outside Le-Koro," Lewa answered. "Of course, we have to go onto hardground."

"Hardground?" Twilight repeated.

"What do you think he means?" Tahu growled.

"Geez, I just asked a question," Twilight huffed. "Rude, much?"

#################################

The cave opened before them like the mouth of some horrible monster. Moss and vines grew on the outer rocks. Visibility became zero just a few meters within the cave, reminding the four ponies of the many caves and dens littered throughout the Everfree Forest back home, especially near the mountains. Fluttershy couldn't help but shrink back, hiding behind Lewa. Celestia only knew what was waiting for them in there.

Twilight and Rarity fired up their horns, activating a light magic spell. At the same time, the three Toa reached into their packs and pulled out three shining, golden stones that they had earlier referred to as "light stones".

"So, how far until we actually get to Onu-Koro?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It's deep underground," Kopaka answered. "It could take quite a while."

Rainbow Dash landed and kicked at the ground with a hoof. "Well, looks like I'm hoofing it with the rest of you."

"Not good, is it?" Lewa asked.

Twilight stepped forward. "Well, we're not going to get to Onu-Koro standing here. Let's go."

Even with their combined magic and light stones, it was still difficult to see more than a few feet in front of them. They walked slowly, careful where they put their feet and their hooves. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash stayed with Twilight Sparkle and Rarity, keeping within their light as they walked behind the Toa.

"We could be in these tunnels for a while," Tahu said. "Looks like this section hasn't been used in a while."

"Strange-odd," Lewa mused. "Earthshapers always maintain tunnels."

"Not all the time," Kopaka told him. "They sometimes stop when a tunnel becomes obsolete."

"Must happen quite a bit, given the state of things," Twilight figured.

"State of things?" Rainbow Dash repeated. "It's a stinking cave. What is there to maintain?"

"The light, for one thing," Tahu answered. "See these plants?" He pointed to some blue, glowing plants. "These are the only sources of light in the caves, unless the Onu-Matoran install some light stones. Onu-Matoran have excellent night vision, but Matoran from the other villages use these tunnels, and, well, they don't see so well in the dark."

"So these tunnels are just used for travel?" Rarity asked.

"Not all of them," Kopaka answered. "There is a whole network of underground tunnels, even deeper than this one, where the Onu-Matoran mine protodermis."

"Which is…." Twilight pressed.

"One of the most important elements on the island," Lewa answered. "It makes vehicles, tools, and armor, among others."

 _This is so fascinating,_ Twilight mused. _We're learning so much about this world. Princess Celestia will love to hear this!_

Tahu held up a hand, signaling them to stop. "What's wrong, Tahu?" Fluttershy asked.

"Lewa, where do Nui-Jaga normally make their nests?"

"Deepground caves," Lewa answered. "How come?"

Tahu shone his light stone around, revealing a circle of green, speckled eggs, each one the size of a dragon egg. Each of the seven nests contained ten eggs, all arranged in a small circle. From the look of things, they had been rotated recently, though it was difficult to tell how long they had been incubating.

Fluttershy felt her stomach tighten. If the eggs were here, then there was a good chance that the mother wouldn't be too far away. And given the size of these eggs, she wasn't sure if she wanted to meet the mother.

There was a loud clicking noise from above them. They all looked up.

It was the size of a cow, with a body as long as two ponies. Its long tail curved up into a deadly looking stinger. Its eight legs dug into the roof of the cave. The two pincers clicked together. The scorpion's eyestalks waved back and forth, until they stopped, the eyes focusing on the seven of them.

Fluttershy couldn't help but scream as the massive scorpion leaped down from the roof, landing in front of them. The Toa dropped their light stones and pulled out their weapons.

###################################

After a week without the girls, Spike had gotten quite bored. He had gone through the castle, counting all the books in the library; he had gone to the hoofball game with Big Macintosh; he and the Cutie Mark Crusaders had helped a young filly named Chocolate Chip find her cutie mark in cookie baking.

Even after all of that, he was just…bored. Without the girls, there was nothing much to do.

Good thing tonight was Guys' Night! Even better, Shining Armor was in town, so there would be four guys playing _Ogres and Oubliettes_ tonight.

And with Discord's magic, the game could literally come to life.

They had been playing for at least three hours now, the four of them. Spike was a mage, Big Mac was a warrior, Discord had decided to join Spike in being a mage this time, and Shining Armor was a thief.

Shining Armor had stopped to take a drink. "It's times like this that make me wish the Crystal Empire was closer to Ponyville," he said. "I mean, I love this game enough as it is, but to actually be living it….Thanks for bringing it to reality, Discord."

"It's what I do," Discord replied. "Besides, isn't this better than playing on a piece of cardboard?"

"Eeyup," Big Mac answered.

"Just one question though," Spike said. "It's been bugging me all week."

"Yeah? What's that?" Shining Armor asked.

"What do you think the girls are doing right now?"

"Probably something girly," Discord figured.

################################

Fluttershy galloped away from the Nui-Jaga scorpion as fast as she could. It had already swatted Rainbow Dash and Twilight against the wall, and Kopaka freezing the floor beneath it wasn't helping it slow down.

"HELP ME!" she cried.

####################################

"Like their hair," Discord said.

A beam of light shot down from the roof. Kronos stepped out as the light faded, wiping his forearm across his forehead.

"Hello, Kronos," Discord said flatly. "Come to join our game?"

"That'd be awesome!" Spike exclaimed. "What class do you want to be, Kronos?"

"I believe I shall pass," Kronos said. "I simply stopped in to see how things were faring without the Elements of Harmony."

"We're managing," Shining Armor said.

"Eeyup," Big Mac put in.

Kronos simply smiled. "As I imagined. Though I suspect they should be finished with their mission in due time."

"Where did you send them, exactly?" Discord asked.

"You mean you don't know? I thought you, of all creatures, could trace them."

"Yeah, if they were the ones who used their magic to go wherever it is they are," Discord replied. "But since it was you, I have no idea."

"Well, believe me, Spirit of Chaos, they will complete their mission and return soon."

"How soon is soon?" Spike asked.

"That, young dragon, I honestly cannot tell you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be off." He tapped his staff on the floor, and vanished in a beam of light.

#####################################

Twilight and Rarity fired their magic at the massive scorpion while Tahu tried to surround it in a ring of fire. The scorpion screeched and swung its claw, batting Tahu aside and nearly hitting the two ponies.

Rainbow Dash flew at the scorpion, dodging another claw swipe and slamming into the massive arthropod, pushing it into the wall. Lewa used his air powers to hold the scorpion in place while Kopaka froze its legs and tail to the cave wall.

"That should do it," Rainbow Dash said smugly.

The scorpion screeched as it struggled against its icy bonds –

Breaking free after a few seconds!

"Pony feathers," Twilight huffed. "Everyone stand back!"

"No, wait," Lewa said, holding his sword in front of her to stop her. "Mother Jaga means no harm. She's just protect-saving her babies. If we just quick-leave, she will stop being mad-angry."

"Yeah, I don't think so," Rainbow Dash said.

"I'll have to go with the blue one," Tahu agreed. He put his swords together. They began to glow for a few seconds before shooting out a stream of flame, hitting the cave roof above the scorpion.

A few rocks fell first, followed by some stalactites.

The cavern shook as the entire roof began to collapse.

"Nice going, Tahu," Rarity hissed.

"Everyone out now!" Twilight called.

It was too late; the roof fell upon them.


	9. Onua, Toa of Earth

ONUA, TOA OF EARTH

DUST FILLED THE STAGNANT AIR OF THE CAVERN. TAHU STRUGGLED AGAINST THE large rock pinning his leg to the ground, straining to move the heavy object. He felt so foolish, using that attack in such a confined space; he should have known better.

He heard coughing in the darkness, and a second later, the cavern was illuminated with a purple light from Twilight Sparkle's horn.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked.

"Could be better," Rainbow Dash coughed as she dug her way out of the rubble. She turned to Tahu. "Way to go, hot head. You could have gotten us all killed!"

Tahu finally managed to move the rock off of his leg. "You're still alive, aren't you?"

"My head came within an inch of getting crushed like an egg!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Rainbow, yelling like that isn't going to fix anything," Twilight said. "We have to find everyone else. Help me did." She used her magic to move some of the rubble.

More rocks were moved as Rarity used her magic to dig herself out. She coughed and spit as she tried to expel dust from her nose and throat. "What just happened?" Rainbow Dash gave no answer; just pointed a hoof at Tahu, who was using his swords to dig through the rubble. "Oh. Right. I'm sure it was an honest accident."

"Accident my left hoof," Rainbow Dash snorted. "Hey, I think I see Lewa."

Lewa raised a green limb out of the rubble. "Oh, my head. That was really not fun."

"Are you okay, Lewa?" Rarity asked.

Lewa rubbed his head. "My head is sore-hurt, but I think I'll live." He shook his head. "Has anyone spot-seen Kopaka and Yellow-Flier?"

"We just started digging," Tahu said as he moved a large rock off the pile of rubble. "So far we've just found you." He moved another rock. "I'm sure they're in this rubble somewhere. Hey Kopaka! If you can hear me, make it cold!"

"Fluttershy, are you in here?" Twilight called. "Fluttershy! Kopaka!"

"Yeah, like they're gonna hear you under all this stuff," Rainbow Dash snarked. She grabbed a large boulder in her front hooves and pulled on it, struggling to lift it off the pile, her wings flapping madly. "Holy horseshoes, this thing is heavy." She dropped the boulder when she felt it suddenly go cold to the touch. "Whoa! I think I found Kopaka!"

The surrounding rocks grew cold and became covered in ice. A second later, they shattered as Kopaka emerged, using his shield to cover his head. Smaller pebbles and rocks rolled off of his shield and his mask. He shook his head, then turned to Tahu.

"Don't ever. Do that. Again."

"Was Fluttershy down there with you?" Rarity asked. Kopaka shook his head. "Then she's still in here somewhere."

"Help," a tiny voice squeakd.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash called. "Squeak again!" She began moving some rocks. "Squeak again so we can hear you!" She refused to let Fluttershy be stuck in another cave; at least this one didn't have a giant transforming dragon that could kill her without even trying, but that didn't absolve the fact that she refused to leave Fluttershy buried under this pile of rubble.

Tahu, Lewa, and Kopaka used their swords as levers to move some of the rocks, while Twilight and Rarity used their magic to clear the rubble. The more rocks they moved, the closer they were to uncovering Fluttershy. A bit of her yellow fur was showing through the gaps in the rubble. A moment later, one of Fluttershy's hooves pushed through. Fluttershy waved her hoof around.

"Help," she squeaked again. "I can barely breathe in here."

"We'll get you out of there, just wait a minute or two," Tahu said as he moved another rock. _But there are so many rocks, I'm not sure we'll make it in time,_ he added silently. _If only Onua were here._

"If you guys are having a party, you forgot to invite me," a deep voice boomed. A hunched dark figure came down the chamber – it was another Toa, this one jet black, save for his glowing green eyes. Like the other two Toa, he was donned in silver chest and shoulder armor, and his mask resembled a flattened rock. "Ooh, yeah, looks like you got a bit of a problem."

"Can't say I'm surprised you'd show up to a cave in, Onua," Kopaka said softly.

"Well, I was in the area and I heard the boom," Onua replied. "So, what's up? Tahu bring the roof down again?"

"Will everyone just get off my back!" Tahu yelled. "It was a stupid accident!"

"Toa Onua, can you help us dig our friend out?" Twilight asked. "Fluttershy's still stuck under all this rubble."

"No problem, short stuff," Onua agreed. He ruffled her mane with a hand, before reaching behind him and procuring two objects that looked like elongated chainsaws. "Everyone just stand back." He dug his tools into the rubble, the vibrations shattering the rocks, turning them to dust. Pebbles bounced off of his mask and his armor, but if he noticed, he showed no signs of such.

A few seconds later, Fluttershy was free – albeit covered in dirt and dust. She coughed, expelling dirt and dust from her throat.

"Thank you, Toa," she said softly.

"It's what I do," Onua answered. He smiled as Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash rushed over to Fluttreshy, the four ponies joining together in a group hug. "I'll be honest, that's adorable."

Twilight nuzzled against Fluttershy, before turning to Onua. "Toa Onua, right?"

"That's me, Toa of Earth."

"We're trying to find our friends," Twilight said. "Have you seen them?"

"I'm going to assume you're talking about that goofy pink one," Onua guessed. "Yeah, I've seen her around Onu-Koro."

"Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Where is she now?"

"Still in Onu-Koro, last time I saw her," Onua answered. He waved a hand. "Follow me."

######################################

The tunnels continued on for miles. The only light was coming from the lightstones on the walls, illuminating the black, brown, and gray earth of the cavern. The cave walls were moist with water and mildew, making them glisten in the golden light. The four ponies followed Onua, the other three Toa bringing up the rear.

"When did you see Pinkie Pie last?" Rainbow Dash asked. She was getting anxious waiting to see Pinkie Pie; it felt like forever since the had last seen any of her other friends, and she was starting to get worried.

"Let's see here," Onua said. "I think it was about…three…maybe four hours ago. I don't know where she ran off to, but she sure was happy."

"That's Pinkie Pie for you," Twilight said. "She's always happy."

Rarity scoffed. "Onua, I mean no offense by this, but do you think someone would look into installing some ventilation into these tunnels? It's so muggy."

"Nothing I can do about that, really," Onua told her. "It's mostly the Onu-Matoran who use these tunnels. Sometimes the other Matoran come through here, but since only Onu-Matoran can see in the dark, that's why we installed these lightstones."

"Good thing, too," Kopaka said. "The last time I came through these tunnels with Matoro and Turaga Nuju, Matoro ran into a stalactite. Nearly knocked his mask off."

"And welcome to Onu-Koro," Onua announced as they entered a large chamber. The entire chamber was carved out to the size of a small city, the entire village of Onu-Koro fitting into the room. The roof towered over them all, several stories high, accommodating the large hut in the center of the village – which the ponies guessed was the Turaga's hut. Every few meters, there was a post with a lightstone atop it, illuminating the village. Various little shops and vendors were set up along the streets, selling lightstones, mining tools, fish, and various other goods. A railroad track ran through the center of the village, ending at a pair of buffers just before a rock wall.

And coming towards them was another Turaga, this one wielding a spear tipped with a drill. He was smiling as he approached, his green eyes fixated on the ponies.

"Ah, more of our four-legged visitors," he said. "It would seem that Pinkie Pie was indeed telling the truth." He bowed lightly. "Welcome to Onu-Koro."

"Thank you, Turaga," Twilight said as she and the other ponies returned his bow. "Um, did you say Pinkie Pie?"

"I did, yes," the Turaga said. "Oh, forgive me. I am Whenua, Turaga of this village. And you four are…?"

"Hello, Turaga Whenua. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Rarity. A pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Rainbow Dash. How're you doing?"

"Hello. My name is Fluttershy."

"How do you know Pinkie Pie, Turaga Whenua?" Twilight asked.

"She came to our village recently," Whenua explained. "And I must say, she is certainly the energetic one."

"You're not kidding," Onua added. "I get tired out just thinking about her."

"Where is she now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"She went exploring one of the mines with Nuparu before I went to investigate that cave in," Onua answered.

"Yes, what was that, by the way?" Whenua asked. He turned his eyes to Tahu. "Did Tahu lose his temper again?"

Tahu threw his hands into the air. "Why is everyone picking on me?" he cried.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but chuckle. "It's funny because it's true."

"Watch it, blue, or I might roast you next," Tahu threatened.

"Not if I blow out your fires first," Rainbow Dash threatened back.

"Rainbow, Tahu, enough!" Twilight snapped. "Sorry about them, Turaga. They've been at that for a while. So when was the last time you saw Pinkie Pie, anyway?"

"I do believe that was three hours ago," Whenua answered, scratching his chin in thought. "Nuparu said they would be back."

The sound of a rail car filled their ears. They all turned to the nearby track, the sound of the car getting closer. Along with the sound of the rail car, there was also the sound of someone cheering, a sound that the ponies recognized.

"That sounds like Pinkie Pie," Rarity guessed.

A mine cart came rolling around the bend, Pinkie Pie and a small Onu-Matoran with an orange mask riding in it. Pinkie Pie was cheering as the car rolled down the track –

Heading for a set of buffers at the end.

"Pinkie Pie! Matoran! Jump out!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

Fluttershy covered her eyes with her front hooves. "I can't watch."

The cart was getting closer to the buffers. The Onu-Matoran pulled back on the brake handle. The tires squealed as the brakes caught, bringing the cart to a stop.

"Whee!" Pinkie Pie cried as she leaped out of the cart. "Hey, anyone else want to go riding the mine cart with me? That was super fun!" The other ponies galloped over to her, Fluttershy leaping on top of her and tackling her to the ground in a tight hug. "Hey you guys. Did you meet Nuparu yet?" She waved at the Toa. "Hi Onua! Hi other Toa!"

"We're so glad you're safe, Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy said as she nuzzled against her friend. "When we saw the Shadow Bohrok, we were so worried."

"What's a Shadow Bohrok?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Oh, you mean those monster Whenua talked about. Hey!" She leaped to her hooves, nearly throwing Fluttershy off of her. "Do you mean you were scared one of those things had gobbled me up?"

"Well, kind of, yeah," Rainbow Dash answered. "We've seen those things and they're not exactly friendly."

"At least you're safe," Twilight said. "But what about Applejack and Starlight Glimmer? Have you seen them?"

"Not since Kronos sent us here," Pinkie Pie answered. Twilight hung her head in sadness. "But I'm sure they're safe. Maybe they're with the other Toa."

"It's possible," Tahu said as the Toa joined them. "Gali and Pohatu would be watching them, assuming your friends are even in Po-Koro and Ga-Koro."

"Maybe we should pay them a visit," Twilight suggested.

"Yes, but can we please get something to eat first?" Rarity asked. "Forgive me, everypony, but my stomach is growling."

"I hear ya there, Rare," Rainbow Dash agreed.

"Then join me in my hut," Whenua offered. "I will prepare a meal for all of you. And then you are welcome to stay the night. You may need the rest before you continue your search for your friends."


	10. Lost in Shadow

LOST IN SHADOW

HOW STARLIGHT GLIMMER HAD ENDED UP IN THIS PITCH BLACK LABYRINTH SHE didn't know. She had gone through Kronos's portal with Twilight; logic should have dictated that they'd both be in the same area upon exiting that doorway, but when Starlight found herself in this void of a cave, she saw that she was all alone. Of course, that was activating her light magic, channeling it through her horn.

Even that light barely penetrated the darkness in front of her, and she could feel herself getting more fatigued with every passing second. It had been nearly three days, and outside of having nothing but the small rations she'd brought along, she hadn't had anything to eat or drink since then. She'd already gone through most of the food and water she'd brought along, though not from eating it herself; some of it had gone to keep these strange creatures from attacking her.

Even in this darkness, she could make out their image. The large crab creatures had begun chasing her the moment she arrived in this cavern. Starlight had been on the run, with very little rest; this small cubby-hole in the wall – which she'd checked and made sure that it was clear of any hostile creatures – was so far the best cover she'd had, and it gave her a chance to get a little bit of sleep.

But that still left the question of where in the hoof everyone else was.

Starlight Glimmer lay in her little hole, out of sight of the monstrous crabs patrolling outside, and decided that she should try to get a little bit of sleep. She hadn't even realized how exhausted she was from trying to stay hidden from these monsters; if she wasn't sneaking through the darkness, she was running blind; her muzzle was still sore from running into that one large rock.

Starlight curled up on the ground, resting her head on her front hooves and closed her eyes. Sleep came quickly, as did the dreams.

Most of the dreams came and went like the wind, but every once in a while, the dreams stayed. Sometimes they were fun, like the dream where she was flying through space with Discord; and sometimes they made her reflect on her past.

Starlight groaned as she tried to stop thinking about the dream.

 _She stood in the barren wasteland, looking out at what had once been the beautiful land she called home. Everyone and everything that lived here….It was all gone, all life eradicated._

 _Everyone and everything was dead, and it was all her fault._

 _No. No, it wasn't her fault. It wasn't. It was that mare, Twilight Sparkle. She had ruined everything. The village she worked to build had been taken from her, and all of her fellow ponies had turned their backs on her after getting their cutie marks back –_

 _"_ _No!" she screamed. "That's not me! I'm not that pony anymore! I just want to put it all behind me!"_

 _But she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried. It had happened, and her attempts at changing the past had resulted in this, this….This extinction of all life._

 _The wind howled, blowing the dust into her eyes. She blinked the dust away, trying to focus on something – anything – other than how she had gotten here. Starswirl the Bearded's spell had enabled her to alter history, change events so they fit her needs, but she saw now that that was a huge mistake. Not even Tartarus existed anymore._

 _Starlight hung her head in shame. She wished she could alter events without killing everything in Equestria, but now it was clear that it was a lost cause._

 _The ground rumbled beneath her hooves. Tiny cracks began to appear. Those cracks began to grow, and the ground began to split apart. Starlight gasped as the ground beneath her opened up, revealing the dark abyss below._

 _The darkness began to glow fiery red. Starlight Glimmer had just enough time to scream before she was engulfed in a geyser of magma._

Starlight's eyes snapped open. She clamped her mouth shut with her hooves, keeping the scream from escaping. Slowly, she let out the breath she'd been holding; it was just another dream, but this one was one of the worst. She'd never had a dream quite that bad. Was her consciousness trying to tell her something? Was this a sign that her past was still haunting her?

It was so hard to believe that dreams like that one stemmed from her feeling a sense of jealousy as a filly. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't ignore her past. Everything she had done, everything she had been, it defined her. Her becoming Twilight Sparkle's student was, if she was being honest with herself, an attempt to redeem herself in her eyes, if nopony else's. Yes, she had made a lot of friends – Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Trixie, Discord, Thorax, Spike, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, more friends than she had ever thought she'd have in her entire life.

And considering that, until then, her only friend was Sunburst, and she hadn't seen him in years. The first time she saw him since foalhood was when Princess Flurry Heart – the first alicorn to be born in the history of Equestria – was born.

She heard something move in the darkness. Slowly, she moved out of her little hiding place, but still couldn't see anything; the shadows were so thick that she wasn't even sure if she had her eyes opened. But just because she couldn't see didn't mean that she couldn't hear, and she could hear those crabs' legs moving along the cavern floor.

And they sounded like they were getting closer.

Slowly, she eased back into her hiding place. Her head swiveled left and right, afraid to turn on her light, fearing that it would draw those monsters to her.

As she slowly walked, she kept putting her front hooves out, slowly, making sure she wasn't about to walk into a rock or off a drop.

Her hoof touched something hard and smooth. Slowly, cautiously, she activated her magic, light emanating from her horn.

The crab's claws snapped open and shut as it screeched at her.

This time, there was nothing to stop the scream coming out of her mouth.

Starlight ducked out of the way of the crab's claws and started galloping away as fast as she could. She could feel the crab's claws snap at her, snipping off the hairs at the end of her tail. Her hooves clopped against the ground as she struggled to see where she was going. More and more crabs were coming out of the darkness, their claws snapping at her.

She let out a gasp as one of the crabs' claws snapped shut around her. Her legs flailed in the air as she struggled to get free.

"Put me down!" she cried. "Let me go!" Her horn lit up even more, and she fired a shot of concentrated magic at the crab's arm, blowing it off. She landed, hard, the claw releasing her, and she took off running again, her hooves smacking against the ground.

"Go away!" she cried to the crabs. "Leave me alone!" She slammed against the cave wall; there was a slight green light coming from the wall – this wasn't a wall, it was a door. She pounded her front hooves on the door, looking back to see the crabs scuttling closer. "Open up! Let me in! Please!" The door refused to open. "Oh, buck this!" She concentrated as much as she could, her horn glowing, and the door began to slide upward. It was heavy, the heaviest object she'd ever had to lift. When it was open enough for her to roll under, she did just that, letting it fall closed behind her.

Starlight lay on the ground, trying to catch her breath and let herself calm down. All four legs were shaking with adrenaline, and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

Slowly, she stood up on four shaking legs. She took several breaths, trying to calm herself down as she looked around her new surroundings. The lighting was better in this room, though that could be due to the shimmering pool of silver liquid in the center of the room. The room was lined with several pillars lined with what looked like green moss. Thick green mist rose up from the floor.

Starlight took a few steps towards the shimmering pool in the center of the room. It didn't look like any liquid she had ever seen. Its surface was shining silver, and it was that coloration that was giving off that light. Slowly, cautiously, she reached a hoof out to the pool; pulled her hoof back – that did not look like something she wanted to touch.

A shame; she could really use something to drink.

Something moved in the darkness, startling her. Starlight stepped back from the pool and looked around, her horn illuminating the surrounding area. She could still see nothing other than the pillars.

"Wh – who's there?" she asked, her voice cracking with fear. "I – I'm sorry for just barging in like this. I just needed to get away from those giant crabs outside. Um….Can you please come out of the shadows so I can see you?"

A deep, booming voice came from the darkness. "I am Shadow. The Shadow that all fear. But you….I have never seen a creature of your likes before."

Starlight didn't know what to say. She had never heard anything like this before. The only world she had ever known was Equestria; she was a stranger here, and this person's comment just cemented that.

"Uh….My – my name is Starlight Glimmer. I – I was separated from my friends. I don't know where they are."

"Not here, if they are beings like you."

"Yes, they are ponies. And, uh, you are…?"

Slowly, a figure stepped out of the darkness. Starlight had to crane her neck to look up at this being's face, which stood almost twenty feet off the ground. She couldn't quite make out the being's face, but she could see hints of red and green among its black coloration. The being's impossibly long arms ended in clawed hands, which reached down to the knees of the being's bird-like legs. Starlight took a step back as one of the being's massive feet came down, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"I have many names," the being said. "But the Matoran call me Makuta."

"Ma – Makuta?" Just hearing, just saying, the name made her hair stand up on end and sent a shiver down her spine. "Do you…live here?"

Makuta chuckled. "I suppose that would be one way of putting it. But I am more curious about you, Starlight Glimmer. What are you? Where are you from? And why are you here?"

"I…." Starlight Glimmer's voice caught in her throat; she wasn't sure if she should answer this Makuta guy. What if he was working with the guy Kronos sent them to investigate? What if he _was_ the one they were supposed to investigate?

"You won't answer?" Makuta asked. "Then allow me to investigate myself." He reached out to Starlight with one of his clawed hands.

Starlight backed away. "What are you doing?"

"Let's find out where you come from and why you're here," Makuta answered. One of his fingers touched her forehead, and her body went stiff. "Let's see what you're hiding, Outlander."

 _No!_ Starlight tried to yell, but found her voice wouldn't come out of her mouth. She was forced to give Makuta all of her memories – her sense of betrayal by Sunburst, her takeover of that little village, her going into hiding after being chased off by the Elements of Harmony, her near destruction of all life in Equestria, her becoming Twilight's student, Flurry Heart's birth, her defeat of the remnants of the Changeling race, their mission for Kronos –

"Ah, that's it," Makuta said as he pulled his hand away. Starlight collapsed to the ground. "Sent to investigate the being whose shadows are seeping to other worlds. I don't suppose this Kronos fellow sent you and your little friends to investigate me, did he?"

Starlight said nothing; she was still reeling from Makuta fishing through her mind. She looked up at him, breathing heavily.

"Nothing to say? Then perhaps I should take your vow of silence as a yes."

How could Starlight speak? She was so exhausted, her body was so weak from hunger and thirst. And besides, she didn't trust this Makuta fellow; she wasn't sure she should tell him anything about the mission.

She looked up at him, up at the monster standing above her.

"You – what are you?"

"I told you my name. I am the Master of Shadows. And this, Starlight Glimmer, is my domain. And you, well, let's just say that you're my guest. Hmmm….Now, what else was it that I saw in the dark recesses of your mind? Ah, yes, there's something buried deep within. Let's see what it is."

"No!" Starlight cried as she crawled back away from Makuta's clawed hand. "Get away!" She fired a blast of magic at Makuta, hitting him in the arm. "Keep your claws away from me!"

"You cannot keep your shadows hidden forever, Starlight Glimmer," Makuta said as his fingers brushed against her forehead. She groaned in anguish as she felt his shadows bore their way into her mind, bringing the shadows of her past back to the forefront –

And she watched as the shadows materialized into a mirror image of herself.

"What – what is this?" she asked as Makuta stepped away.

The Shadow Starlight opened her eyes, staring down at Starlight. Starlight stared up at her mirror self, who looked down at her, a malicious grin on her furred face. Her muted blue eyes bored into Starlight's own.

And then she spoke.

"Hello, Me."

"What? How?"

"Oh, surprised how your inner darkness can be standing in front of you right now, Starlight?" Shadow Starlight asked. "I suppose we can thank Makuta for that." She stepped around Starlight, who was still lying on the ground. Starlight felt herself being lifted off the ground as Shadow Starlight surrounded her with her magic. "On your hooves now." Starlight's hooves touched the ground; her legs wobbled weakly beneath her. "I know," Shadow Starlight said. "I know, you're tired. Three days with very little food or water. But you don't need to worry about that anymore. I can help you, Starlight Glimmer. All you have to do is give up that cutie mark of yours."

Starlight turned to glare at her shadowed counterpart. "What?"

"Your cutie mark is the source of your weakness." She showed Starlight her own cutie mark, a gray equals sign. "Surrender your cutie mark, and your sorrows will all fade away."

It was strange hearing the same pick-up line she had spent years using on other ponies. Now that she was actually hearing it, she realized how ridiculous she must have sounded, given everything she had learned in the most recent months.

"It's really not a difficult decision," Shadow Starlight continued. She put a hoof on Starlight's chin, turning her gaze up to her. "Surrender your cutie mark, and say goodbye to all of your weaknesses. We will be equal, you and I."

Starlight slapped her dark counterpart's hoof away and stepped back. "No. I know what you're trying to do, and I won't be a part of it. I'm not going to be a part of something I gave up long ago!"

"Gave up. It's funny you should use those words, because that's exactly what you did to me!" Shadow Starlight glowed. Her horn glowed, and Starlight was sent flying into a pillar with a burst of magic. Pain shot up and down Starlight's body as she fell to the ground. "Tell me why!" Shadow Starlight bellowed. "Why did you abandon me?" She trotted towards Starlight, using her magic to hold her to the floor. "You locked me away, left me to rot in the far corners of your mind! You forgot about me!"

Starlight struggled to get to her hooves, but her dark counterpart's magic was holding her down. Coupled with her exhaustion, she could barely move.

"It doesn't feel good, does it, Starlight Glimmer?" Shadow Starlight hissed. "Being held down? Held back? You feel that weight holding you down? That's how I've felt for the last five months! It doesn't feel good, does it?" She lowered her face to Starlight. "Does it hurt?"

Starlight gave no answer. She just stared at her shadowed self, her gaze shifting between her and Makuta, who was watching in the shadows. This was all because of him; she wouldn't be in this predicament if he hadn't brought this Shadow Starlight Glimmer out of her mind.

But then again, maybe he wasn't the only one to blame. After all, Shadow Starlight was the pony that she herself had once been. And she did come into Makuta's chamber of her own free will, even if she didn't know Makuta was here at the time. She had just come here to escape those monster crabs outside; she had no idea that Makuta would make her literally face herself.

"Nothing to say, Starlight Glimmer?" Shadow Starlight asked. "I've got plenty to say to you. I've spent the last several months deep inside your mind, watching you, listening to you, and everything I've seen has been sickening. This is what we've been reduced to? Another lovey-dovey pony preaching about friendship? You are Starlight Glimmer, not Twilight Sparkle! You once ruled over an entire town of ponies who followed you without question!"

"Because I stripped them of their identity!" Starlight countered. "And why? Because I was jealous of Sunburst's ability?"

"Because that is who you are!" Shadow Starlight shouted. "Not this pathetic pile of pony puke at my hooves. What happened to you? I'll tell you what happened to you – you faltered."

"I – I moved on. I put my past behind me."

"Did you? Did you really? If that's the case, then why the hoof do I still exist? Why are you still haunted by me? I know you are. You can't stop thinking about me. You keep having nightmares about me."

 _You're broken, so am I_

 _I'm better off alone_

 _No one to turn to and nothing to call my own_

 _Outspoken, so am I_

 _Explosive words that your world wouldn't understand_

 _Turn away again_

 _You're beaten, so am I_

 _I've got a heart of stone_

 _No medication can cure what has taken hold_

 _You're hurting, so will I_

 _When I awake and remember why I've been running from your_

 _World_

 _Dishonored by your world_

 _Your world_

 _I'm haunted by your world_

 _My blood is cold as ice_

 _Or so I have been told_

 _Show no emotion, and it can destroy your soul_

 _Another sacrifice_

 _To a tormentor your world wouldn't understand_

 _Turn away again_

 _You're angered, so am I_

 _A thousand fires burn_

 _A land of darkness from which I cannot return_

 _You're aching, so will I_

 _When I awake and discover that I have been damaged by your_

 _World_

 _Dishonored by your world_

 _Your world_

 _I'm haunted by your world_

 _Never will I be welcomed_

 _Amongst the heartless monsters you surround yourself with_

 _Feeding off the pain and misfortune of others_

 _A maniacal unit of sub-pony parasites_

 _Warped into a feeding frenzy with the smell of fresh blood_

 _Open your eyes and see the creatures for what they are_

 _A swirling mess of hatred and envy_

 _Don't be naive enough to think you're unaffected_

 _The conversion has already begun_

 _You're frightened, so am I_

 _A world of demons wait_

 _Watching the movements and filling my heart with hate_

 _You're burning, so will I_

 _When I awake and discover how I have been ravaged by your_

 _World_

 _Dishonored by your world_

 _Your world_

 _I'm haunted by your world_

Starlgiht Glimmer glared at her dark counterpart, knowing that she had no one to blame for this creature's existence but herself.


	11. Gali, Toa of Water

GALI, TOA OF WATER

ACCORDING TO THAT MAKESHIFT EARTHEN CLOCK IN WHENUA'S HUT, IT WAS just after eight in the morning. The ponies had gotten more than ten hours of sleep, and yet, they still felt exhausted. Maybe it was because of how far they'd travelled over the last couple of days, maybe they were still feeling the adrenaline from their fight with the Nui Jaga in the tunnel. Either way, Rainbow Dash hated it. She couldn't stop yawning.

Rainbow Dash wasn't the only one. Fluttershy was still rubbing her eyes, and Twilight was shaking her head, trying to stay awake. The only one who didn't show any signs of tiredness was Pinkie Pie, who was still happily bouncing up and down.

Then again, so was Lewa, though Rainbow Dash figured that was more due to him being stuck underground than him being happy. Rainbow couldn't blame the Toa of Air; it was claustrophobic down here, despite how cavernous the chamber was.

"What's taking so long?" she asked.

"We have to wait for Onua to finish talking with Whenua," Tahu explained. "They're mapping out a route; Onua knows the underground region of the island better than the rest of us, even better than most Onu-Matoran."

"And some of these tunnels are quite dangerous," Kopaka added. "Prone to flooding, cave-ins, and creatures even more dangerous than that Nui Jaga from yesterday."

Just then, Onua waved them into the hut. A map of the island's tunnel systems was laid out on the table. Onua pointed to a spot on the map. "This is Onu-Koro. Every tunnel system on the island starts here." He pointed to another tunnel, heading north from the village. "The easiest and safest route is this one, going directly north from the village. Relatively safe path; Turaga Whenua can vouch for that."

"I walk it every week," Whenua said with a cheeky grin. "Keeps me fit in my old age."

"There's only one issue on this path," Onua continued. "Look here. The path forks. One path goes northeast to Ga-Koro, and the other path goes northwest to Po-Koro."

"Easy solution to that," Twilight said. "When we get there, we split off into two groups. That way we can check both villages at the same time. Applejack and Starlight Glimmer could be in either of those villages, so it's the most logical idea to split up."

"But where are we going to meet up when we're done?" Rarity asked. "Those villages are on opposite ends of the village."

"Then we choose a place to meet up," Twilight answered.

"And where in Celestia's name would that be?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Lewa pointed to a spot on the center of the map. "Right here. Kini Nui Temple."

"You sure about that, Lewa?" Tahu asked. "You know who has a lair under there."

"Is it the Easter Pony?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Rainbow Dash smacked a hoof against her face. "We're the only ponies who have ever been here, Pinkie," she scolded the pink pony. "Besides, didn't Whenua tell you about…THAT guy?"

"Which guy?" Pinkie asked innocently.

This time, it was Tahu who smacked a hand against his face. "Tell me she's not always like this."

"She is," Rarity said bluntly. "But that's why we love her."

"Your species is so weird," Tahu grumbled softly.

"I heard that, Red," Rainbow Dash called.

"If you two are done pseudo arguing, I think we need to prep for this trip," Onua said.

"Can we get some breakfast first, please?" Fluttershy asked softly. "I'm afraid we won't get far on empty stomachs."

##############################

The lightstones illuminated the path in front of the group, along with the light coming from Twilight's and Rarity's horns. Pinkie Pie had tried to sing a song to keep their minds occupied as they walked, but that idea was quickly shot down by Tahu. So the only sounds in the tunnel were their footsteps and the water dripping off of the stalactites.

After three hours of walking, they came to a fork in the road, one path going east, the other going west.

"This is where we split up," Tahu said. "Lewa, you and I will go with Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash to Ga-Koro. Onua, you and Kopaka go with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to Po-Koro."

"Sure, send the Ice Toa to the desert," Kopaka huffed.

"A desert?" Twilight repeated. "Pinkie, Fluttershy, do you have enough water? It's going to be hot there; we don't want you to get dehydrated."

Fluttershy looked through her saddlebag. "I think there's enough," she said. "Oh, and I'll share with Onua and Kopaka."

"We'll be fine," Onua said. "But thanks for thinking of us anyway." He turned to Kopaka. "She's adorable."

Kopaka simply shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so."

Rainbow Dash raised a hoof. "Quick question. Where the heck are we going to meet up?"

"Rainbow, we talked about this," Twilight replied. "The temple in the center of the island. Remember?"

"I wasn't paying attention."

 _Of course you weren't,_ Twilight silently snarked.

"Can we please quickspeed out of these tunnels?" Lewa asked. "No offense to brother Onua, but I'm feeling a little boxed in."

"And this dank environment is doing murder for my mane," Rarity added, running a hoof through her royal purple mane.

Tahu rolled his eyes. "Fine. See the rest of you at Kini Nui."

##################################

The sudden change in lighting nearly blinded them. They all blinked as their eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness of the world outside. And yet, despite all this, they were happy to finally be back out in fresh air.

Despite how happy Rarity was to be out of the caves, mainly because she could finally fix her mane, Lewa was even happier; the first thing he did when they exited the cave was to perform a series of jumps and flips.

"Ah, out of the dark-wet cave and back to singsong outland," he sighed as he flipped.

Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took to the sky. "I don't know what you said, Green Boy, but I agree." She flapped her wings, working her shoulder muscles, which had started to stiffen from being confined to the close quarters of the tunnels for so long.

"How much farther to Ga-Koro?" Twilight asked.

"Not far now," Tahu answered. "Maybe about a mile."

"Then let's get hoofing it," Twilight said, and she started walking.

Twenty minutes of walking – or in the case of Lewa and Rainbow Dash, flying – later, the sweet, salty smell of the sea greeted them, and as they crested a small hill, they found themselves at a bay. The shore stretched around in a horseshoe shape, with the water of the sea gently lapping up against the sand. In the middle of the bay was a small village built out of kelp and seaweed, resting on large lily pads and connected via chutes of bamboo. Nets full of fish were scattered around a few of the huts, the scent of the fish mixing in with the sea air.

Lewa and Rainbow Dash landed gracefully on the ground. "Think we can learn how to surf here?" Rainbow Dash asked as she watched the blue Ga-Matoran work around the village – some tending to the fish nets, some patching the kelp roofs, some swimming in the water. "I've always wanted to surf."

Rarity turned to Tahu. "Water and fire don't mix very well, Tahu; are you sure you'll be okay here?"

"My powers might be limited, but then again, so will Gali's," Tahu answered.

"Right. Steam."

Rainbow Dash flew towards the village. "Anypony got a surfboard I can borrow?"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called after her, but her Pegasus friend was too far away to hear her. "Shoot."

Rainbow Dash landed on the large lily pad in the center of the village. She looked around, noticing the nearly thirty sets of Matoran eyes looking at her, some with confusion, some with interest. She raised a hoof. "Hi there. Name's Rainbow Dash. Maybe you've heard of me?" No one spoke up. "Speechless, huh? Yeah, I know, I'm awesome."

Twilight, Rarity, and the Toa caught up to her. "Rainbow Dash, are you crazy?"

"What?"

"You think the Ga-Matoran are going to talk to us if you just barge in like that?" Twilight scolded the cyan-blue Pegasus. "We're guests here; you don't just barge into someone's house if you're a guest, do you?"

"All the time!" Rainbow Dash proudly proclaimed. The lavender alicorn just glared at her. "Right. Probably a dumb idea."

An elderly female voice spoke up. "A display like that would probably have not gone over so well at Ta-Koro." A Turaga approached them, accompanied by a Ga-Matoran wearing a mask similar to a scuba mask. This Turaga's mask was round and smooth, and she carried a trident. "They may have considered it a threat and prepared to counter."

"Hey, I'm no threat," Rainbow Dash countered.

"No, I do not believe so," the Turaga said.

"You three don't look very threatening at all, when you think about it," the Ga-Matoran added.

"You wanna repeat that?" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"Rainbow, enough!" Twilight yelled. "I'm sorry about my friend. It's been a tiring couple of days, and we just came out of the Onu-Koro Highway." She cleared her throat. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. The unicorn is Rarity, and the Pegasus is Rainbow Dash. As you can tell from our appearance, we're not from this world. And we're not the only ones, but two of our friends are with the other Toa – Onua and Kopaka – and are on their way to Po-Koro now. The only ones missing are an Earth Pony named Applejack and another unicorn named Starlight Glimmer. Would those names ring a bell by any chance, Turaga….I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Nokama, Turaga of Ga-Koro. And I'm sorry to say, Twilight Sparkle, that those names are unfamiliar to me."

Twilight let out an annoyed sound. "Can't say I'm surprised."

Rarity put a supportive hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, darling; chances are Fluttershy and the others will find them at Po-Koro."

"I hope so."

"Okay, so now that we got that out of the way, where do you keep your surfboards?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Perhaps Hahli can help you with that," Nokama said, gesturing to the Ga-Matoran next to her.

"Seriously?" Hahli asked. "You said you just came from Onu-Koro."

"Well, yeah, but come on! I've never done it before, and maybe the water can get the dirt out of my fur."

"I'd rather not surf, but I wouldn't mind getting a bath," Rarity put in.

"Kai's in charge of that one," Hahli said, pointing to the hut behind her.

Rarity cantered towards the hut. "Finally, I can get this gunk out of my mane and fur."

"And as for you," Hahli said, pointing to Rainbow Dash, "surfboards are over there."

"Cowabunga!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew off.

Twilight smacked a hoof against her face. "Well, I can't say that I blame Rarity, at least."

"You really are from another world, aren't you?" Nokama asked.

"Yes Turaga, that's right."

Tahu rolled his eyes. "Come on, Lewa; let's find Gali and give her an update."

################################

Rarity slowly lowered herself into the pool of water; she felt cleaner already as the water washed the dirt and sweat off her fur and skin. Spending two days in the caverns of Onu-Koro, and Le-Koro and Ta-Koro before that, made her feel so filthy. This dip in the water was a welcome relief, allowing her to ignore the confused stares of the Ga-Matoran in the hut, save for the Ga-Matoran named Kai, whose mask was shaped like the end of a chisel.

"Is everything alright, darling?" Rarity asked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare," Kai answered. "It's just, I've never seen any being like you before. Sorry; that sounded rude, didn't it?"

 _If I had a bit,_ Rarity thought. She smiled sweetly. "Don't worry about it," she said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "At this point, I'm used to it." She splashed some water on her face, cleaning it. "I must say, you have a beautiful village. So far I've seen Ta-Koro, Le-Koro, and Onu-Koro, but not even Le-Koro compares to this village."

"Why thank you, um…." Kai's voice trailed off. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your –"

"It's Rarity."

"Well, that was a very nice thing for you to say, Rarity."

Rarity looked around. "I couldn't help but notice that your Toa is absent."

"Toa Gali is tending to the ocean creatures at the moment," Kai answered. "Mata Nui knows how long that can take, especially when the tarakava start fighting."

 _I'm going to assume that a tarakava is one of their island creatures,_ Rarity thought. "It gets that bad?"

"At times."

Rarity stood under the small waterfall in the hut, letting the water wash over her head and through her mane.

#####################################

Twilight watched from the shore as Rainbow Dash rode a wave. The cyan-blue Pegasus used her wings to balance herself on the surfboard. She had to admit to herself, it did look like fun, but she had more important things to worry about than thrill-seeking, like how everyone else was faring on their way to Po-Koro, assuming they weren't there already. Not only that, but Kronos's mission took precedence over anything else in her mind, but they wouldn't be able to perform that task if they weren't together.

 _Unity. Isn't that one of the Matoran virtues?_ she silently asked herself. She snorted in frustration as water from the wave Rainbow Dash was riding splashed on her. "Rainbow!"

"Hey, you think I can control the water? Maybe you should try sitting somewhere else!"

Twilight shook her head, getting the water out of her mane and fur. At least somepony was enjoying herself.

The water near the shore bubbled. Twilight stood up and backed away; she wasn't sure what that was all about, but she was sure that she didn't like it. Her horn started to glow; she prepared to defend herself.

A large, green, lizard-like creature emerged from the water. The lizard looked down at her and growled. Its red eyes stared down at her, and its mouth hung open, revealing rows upon rows of sharp fangs – sharper than those of even the quarry eels back in Ghastly Gorge. The front legs were raised up in front of it, like it was a boxer ready for a fight. Water continued to drip off of its body as it looked down at Twilight.

Twilight fired a burst of magic at the creature. The blast grazed the creature's face. It howled in pain.

"I think you ticked it off, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash cried as she flew towards the creature. Her rear legs collided with its snout as she kicked it, knocking it over. It splashed down into the water.

"Yeah, like that made it any happier," Twilight snarked at her friend as the creature stood back up.

"Stop!" A tall, blue figure – a Toa – leaped in between them, arms outstretched, separating them. "That's enough! You've hurt her!"  
"Hurt it?" Rainbow Dash repeated. "It was gonna eat my friend!"

The Toa patted the creature's hide. "No she was not. Taki merely wanted to say hello."

"Yeah, well, it could have done that without scaring the Tartarus out of me," Twilight hissed. The creature let out an apologetic growl. "You know, I bet this probably wouldn't have happened if Fluttershy was here."

The Toa continued to pet the creature. "You must be the otherworlders Tahu and Lewa told me about."

"Yeah, so can you blame us for being surprised at your pet suddenly popping up like a jackalope in the box?" Rainbow Dash snapped. The creature looked at her with apologetic eyes. "Don't give me that look."

Twilight stepped forward. "So, I assume you're Toa Gali?"

"Toa of Water, yes," Gali answered.

"And this creature?"

"Taki is a tarakava," Gali replied. "This particular species thrives in and around Ga-Wahi, and they survive mostly on a diet of fish and squid."

Twilight looked up at Toa Gali, finally getting a better look at her. Like the other Toa, she wore the same silver chest and shoulder armor, but the rest of her armor was blue and she wore a mask that, like Hahli's, was similar to the mask of a scuba diver, but more squashed and square.

"And Taki is sorry for scaring you," Gali said.

Twilight patted the creature's hide with a hoof. "Well, apology accepted, Taki."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Making friends with a lizard now."

"This coming from the girl who has a tortoise for a pet," Twilight reminded her.

"Okay, I'll give you that one."

They watched as Taki returned to the water. "I was told there were three of you who came with Tahu and Lewa," Gali said.

"Rarity's taking a bath," Twilight answered.

"Typical Rarity," Rainbow Dash said.

"Can you blame her?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a terrified cry coming from the ocean. Taki rose out of the water, howling in terror, her front legs swinging wildly at –

"The Shadow Bohrok," Twilight gasped.

"I've heard stories," Gali said as she readied her weapons – twin axes.

"Trust me, sister, stories ain't nothing compared to the real thing," Rainbow Dash said. She flared her wings. "Come at me, you creeps!"

"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled.

Too late; Rainbow Dash was flying right for the swarm of Bohrok. Twilight fired a blast of magic at the Bohrok, hitting one and blowing a hole through it. At the same time, Rainbow Dash's momentum carried her through the swarm, smashing several of them into pieces.

She was knocked out of her attack by a stray arm smack from Taki.

"Ow! Watch it!" Taki let out an apologetic growl.

Rarity and Kai hurried out of the bath house. "Are those what I think they are?" Kai screamed.

"I believe they are, dear," Rarity answered. "Stay back, Ka!" She fired up her horn, grabbing the nearest Shadow Bohrok, and, with a sick crunching sound, compressed it into a tiny ball. The entire time, the Bohork growled in agony. More Bohrok growled when Rarity threw the compressed ball at its comrades, knocking two of them back into the water.

Gali lunged forward, axes ready. She kicked a Bohrok, knocking its head back. Another Bohrok came charging for her; she blocked it with her axes. The two pushed against each other, one trying to overpower the other.

The Bohrok went up in flames, courtesy of Tahu.

"Thank you, Tahu."

"Thank me later," Tahu hissed. He turned to the four Bohrok facing him. "Bring it!"

The Bohrok charged.

Tahu leaped over the charging Bohrok, launching a stream of fire at them. One of the Bohrok caught fire; it fell into the water, dousing the flames, but the Bohrok was already dead.

The other three Bohrok leaped at Tahu. One was cut down; a second was drowned by a stream of water launched from Gali's axes.

That just left one Bohrok. Gali and Tahu pointed their weapons at the creature; it growled in retaliation.

That growl of retaliation turned into a growl of pain as the two Toa combined their powers into a stream of boiling water, burning it.

Lewa kicked a Bohrok off the top of a hut. The Bohrok fell, crashing into another Bohrok and dropping both into the water. Another Bohrok was blown away with a sweep of his swords. He turned to the bay as Taki roared, spotted her swiping at the Bohrok, taking out a few of them, along with Rainbow Dash, whose speed was enough to cause the Bohrok to fall apart.

"Allow me to aid you, Windsprinter!" he called, and leaped off the roof of the hut. With the tips of his swords pressed against his ankles, he flew out over the bay.

"Hey! Watch it!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she moved out of the way. "You almost slammed into me, Lewa!"

Lewa began flying around in circles, picking up speed as he went. The force of his flight began to create a cyclone; water was pulled up from the bay, forming a waterspout.

"Wow. Why didn't I think about that?" Rainbow Dash asked herself.

"Gali!" Lewa called. "Take control!"

Gali held out her axes, aiming at the waterspout. She struggled against the wind keeping it together as she tried to maneuver it over to the remaining Shadow Bohrok. She'd helped Lewa make waterspouts and hurricanes before, but this one felt stronger than usual. She felt the wind pulling against the water as she tried to move the vortex.

"Gali looks like she could use some help," Rainbow Dash pointed out. "Come on, Lewa, let's lend her a hoof."

"Right with you, Windsprinter."

The two of them flew to the cyclone. They began flying around it, flying clockwise around the waterspout, helping to keep its form. Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes against the high winds and the water as they guided it towards the Bohrok. She heard them growl and roar as the waterspout hit. Pieces of Bohrok went flying past in her peripheral vision – an arm here, a leg there, part of a head there.

Something hard hit her in the face, knocking her out of the sky. She cried out in pain as the object hit. The pain was blinding, and she fell out of the sky, barely managing to guide herself to what she hoped was the beach.

She hit the sand, hard, and skid to a stop.


	12. Krana

KRANA

 _CLEAN IT ALL._

Rainbow Dash lay on the beach, feeling the pain in her face and chest from whatever it was that hit her. She didn't even see what it was; all she could see at the time was the water from the cyclone and the broken pieces of the Bohrok. Maybe it was a Bohrok arm? A Bohrok leg? She wasn't sure.

She also wasn't sure what she was hearing. Maybe it was just the ringing in her ears, but she was sure she heard someone talking. One of her friends? The Toa?

 _Clean it all._

 _Who the heck is talking?_ she thought. She would have spoken, but her jaw was as sore as the rest of her body.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. She found herself face down on the beach, the sand obscuring her vision. Despite how sore her neck was feeling, she managed to lift her head off the sand. Her vision was still obscured, her peripheral vision blocked. Something was stuck to her face, but what? It didn't feel like cloth, so it wasn't a bandage. And she doubted it was a mask.

So what was it?

 _Clean it all, it must be cleaned_ , the voice said again.

 _Okay, that's getting old. Who are you?_

 _Join us. We must clean it all._

 _##################################_

Twilight Sparkle hurried over to Rainbow Dash. The cyan-blue Pegasus was laying prone on the sand, trying to raise her head. Rarity and the Toa joined her as she approached their friend, hoping she wasn't hurt too much. The last time Twilight and Rarity saw Rainbow like this, she'd nearly had her leg cut off from a missile.

"Rainbow, are you okay?" Twilight asked as she approached.

"She took a pretty nasty hit," Tahu said. "It'd be a miracle if her face wasn't broken."

"You don't know Rainbow Dash that well," Rarity told him. "I've seen her go through entire mountains and come out with nothing more than a mild headache."

Twilight put a hoof on Rainbow Dash's chin and turned her to face her. She stepped back when she saw what was on her friend's face.

It looked like a mask of some sort. Her magenta eyes shown through the eye holes, but that was the only part of her face that was visible. There was a visible bulge where the mask stretched to cover her muzzle. Bumps and ridges lined the mouth area. Little holes allowed her to breathe as her eyes fixated themselves on Twilight and Rarity.

Even beneath the mask, Twilight could see the look in Rainbow's eyes. Her normally proud, almost egotistical eyes seemed…different. They seemed pleading, confused, and almost…scared.

She leaped back, screaming, as Rainbow Dash jumped to her hooves, letting out an angry whinny.

"WHOA!"

"Rainbow Dash?" Rarity yelled.

"Watch out!" Tahu yelled as he and the other two Toa readied their weapons. "That's a krana on her face!"

"Those things that control the Bohrok?" Rairty asked. "How did - !" She gasped. "The cyclone she and Lewa made! It must have hit her in the confusion!"

Rainbow Dash snorted and scraped at the sand with a hoof. Her wings flared in a challenging pose. She let out another angry whinny as Twilight slowly approached.

"Rainbow Dash? Can you hear me? Please, say something?"

"Clean it all," Rainbow Dash hissed. "It must be cleaned."

"That doesn't sound like Rainbow Dash," Rarity pointed out.

"That's because she's becoming one with the Bohrok hive mind," Gali said. "We have to get that krana off of Rainbow Dash before it completely takes her over."

"And believe-trust me, that is not a singsong happy experience," Lewa added. He readied his swords, took a leap, and touched the tips of his blades to his ankles, flying off after Rainbow Dash. Twilight followed, flapping her wings as hard as she could to keep up.

"We can't let that happen," Rarity called as she galloped after them from below.

Lewa banked, following the fast Pegasus as she flew towards the village, faster than any Gukko he'd ever seen, faster than she had in Le-Koro. At the same time, he couldn't help but think back to the brief time when he, too, had a krana attached to his face. That was before the transformation into Toa Nuva. He had been ambushed by a swarm of Nuvhok, and if what Onua had told him was true, began to attack the Toa of Earth. But Onua had saved him, removing the krana from his face and replacing it with his Kanohi Miru.

The incident left him having nightmares for days, remembering how he could hear the Bahrag – the queens of the swarms – speaking in his mind, telling him to "clean it all, it must be cleaned", the same phrase Rainbow Dash had been muttering.

Rainbow Dash smashed through the roof of a hut, causing the Ga-Matoran inside to scream in terror. He followed, falling through the hole and brandishing his swords. He didn't want to hurt the windsprinter, as he had taken to calling her, but he would incapacitate her if need be.

Twilight followed as Rainbow Dash turned to face them, her teeth bared behind the new mask on her face. "Lewa! Don't!"

"I have no intention of harming her," Lewa said. He crossed his swords in front of him. "Windsprinter! I know you can hear me!"

"Clean it all," Rainbow Dash muttered. "It must be cleaned."

Twilight stepped forward, just as Rarity, Tahu, and Gali ran through the door. "Rainbow Dash, listen! Please!"

Rainbow Dash lunged forward, plowing through them and throwing them to the floor. "Ow," Tahu moaned, holding his head. "That critter can hit."

Twilight climbed back to her hooves. "Rainbow Dash! Get back here!" She galloped out of the hut; spotted Rainbow Dash as she leaped at Hahli.

"Get off!" Hahli cried.

Twilight fired up her horn and let out a massive blast of magic – not as an attack, but to get Rainbow's attention. "Okay, everypony, back off!" she yelled to the Ga-Matoran. Rainbow Dash climbed off of Hahli and turned to face her, snorting and scraping at the kelp walkway with a hoof. "Rainbow Dash, listen to me," she said to her Pegasus friend. "That thing on your face is just messing with your mind. You are stronger than it. You are Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, and I know that you're not going to let some bug beat you. Help us get it off. Don't let it beat you, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash let out an angry whinny and charged for Twilight, slamming into her and sending her to the ground. The two ponies rolled, Rainbow Dash smacking Twilight with her hooves. Twilight felt every impact as the two rolled on the ground, felt each hit Rainbow Dash connected with her face.

After what felt like several minutes – it was really only a few seconds – Twilight managed to throw Rainbow Dash off of her. She climbed to her hooves, ignoring her bleeding nose as she stared back at the cyan-blue Pegasus.

"We have to stop, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said. She raised a wing, stopping Rarity and the Toa as they approached. "We have to stop this before someone gets hurt. And I don't want that someone to be you, Rainbow Dash. You're my friend. You have so many friends that care about you, and we want to help you get that thing off your face before it takes you over."

"Clean it all."

Twilight took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing, Rainbow." She fired up her horn.

A light purple aura surrounded Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus tried to move; found she couldn't – Twilight was using her magic to hold Rainbow Dash in place. Rainbow Dash struggled against her magical bonds.

"Rarity, Toa, hurry up and get that krana off her face!" Twilight called. "I feel her starting to break free!"

"Let me help," Rarity offered. Her horn began to glow a light blue, adding to Twilight's magic. "Hold still, Rainbow Dash. This is for your own good."

"Release me!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she struggled against the two ponies' magic. "It must be cleaned!"

"Okay, I've seen enough," Tahu huffed. He approached Rainbow Dash.

"Tahu, don't hurt her!" Twilight pleaded.

"I won't," Tahu said.

And Rainbow Dash collapsed as Tahu's fist connected with the back of her head.

"Tahu, really!" Rarity scolded him as she and Twiligth turned off their magic.

"Problem solved," Tahu said.

"Not quite," Twilight corrected him. "That krana has to go." Lewa slowly approached Rainbow Dash, the tip of one of his swords moving towards the insect-like mask. "Careful, Lewa. Careful."

Slowly, Lewa removed the krana, holding it by the tip of his sword. "There we go."

"What do we do with it now?" Gali wondered.

"Simple," Tahu answered. "We destroy it."

"Wait a minute, Tahu," Twiligth said. She magically hovered the krana over to her. "This might be the perfect time to study it."

"You're kidding?" Tahu asked. "You're kidding, right?"

"I must agree with Tahu on this one, Twilight," Rarity added. "That thing is far too dangerous."

"I'm with Whitehorn and Tahu on this one," Lewa said, raising a hand.

"Wait, brothers. Let's think about what Twilight might be suggesting," Gali said. "Without the Cahdok and Gahdok, how are these Shadow Bohrok able to exist? If we look at this krana, it may give us the answer."

Rainbow Dash moaned; all eyes turned to her as she raised her head off the ground. "Ow. Did anypony get the number of that…whatever it was that hit me?"

Rarity trotted over to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. "It's alright, darling. You're safe now."

"Safe from what?" Rainbow Dash asked. She spotted the krana, hovering next to Twilight with the alicorn's magic. "Oh. That thing."

"You are happylucky to have such good sister-friends," Lewa said.

#######################################

They'd reconvened in Turaga Nokama's hut. The krana had been set on a table, and Nokama was now looking it over. Since freeing Rainbow Dash from its control – which was nearly three hours ago – she had been looking at the insectoid mask.

"What's taking her so long?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It's been three hours."

"These things take time, Rainbow Dash," Gali answered. "And I have a feeling these krana are not like normal krana, or even the krana-kal."

"Krana-kal?" Rarity repeated.

"They powered an elite group of Bohrok called Bohrok-kal," Tahu explained. "They operated separately from the Bahrag and the hive mind." He scoffed. "These shadow krana aren't exactly krana-kal material. Have to admit, they've got me stumped."

Twilight was confused as well. It was no surprise to her that she knew very little about this world, but these creatures….Did they operate separately from this hive mind the Toa brought up as well? Or were they something different? Their name indicated they came from the shadows, but how could that be possible? How could shadows create living creatures? It just didn't seem right.

 _Then again_ , she silently told herself, _what's impossible in our world may be possible in other worlds. We should know this by now._ We _are not possible in some worlds, after all._

Her thoughts were interrupted when Nokama picked the krana up from the table and turned to face them. "These krana are not like the krana of before. They are born directly from the shadows of the Makuta."

"Should have known," Tahu scoffed. "Anything worth doing is worth doing twice, huh?"

"Would that explain why they seem to operate without the influence of Cahdok and Gahdok?" Gali asked.

Nokama nodded her head. "Yes, it would appear that that would be the case. Makuta created these Bohrok based on the main hives."

"Okay, I'm all for taking inspiration from one source to create something, but not only are his creations destructive, by using the same design, he's outright plagiarizing," Rarity said. "I know that on the list of things he's done that's probably the least offensive, but still –"

"I think we understand, Whitehorn," Lewa said.

"Born of shadows," Nokama continued, "I would surmise that the only way to stop these swarms, however few they may be, would be to defeat Makuta."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Rainbow Dash challenged. "Let's find this guy and kick his tail. Besides, I wouldn't mind a little payback for them putting that thing on my face and making me go nuts."

"Not without the rest of the Toa," Gali said. "We must be united for such a task."

"Gali's right," Twilight agreed. "Besides, we still need to find out where Applejack and Starlight Glimmer are." She turned to Gali. "Unity. The first of the Three Virtues."

"Then I guess we'd better hurry up and get to the Kini Nui temple and meet up with everyone else," Tahu said.

"I have just one request," Rarity said, raising a hoof. "Can we at least get a night's sleep first?"

Tahu rolled his eyes and silently huffed, but said nothing, knowing that it wouldn't be worth opening his mouth to protest.


	13. Pohatu, Toa of Stone

POHATU, TOA OF STONE

NIGHT HAD FALLEN, FINALLY GIVING THEM SOME RESPITE FROM THE HEAT OF the day. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had been in the desert before, but there was something about this desert that was much…worse. It had been so hot that they'd barely made any progress and gone through two canteens of water each.

But for as bad as they had it, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel sorry for Toa Kopaka. The Toa of Ice had to have been having a hard time in the heat, but if he was, he wasn't showing it. He wasn't showing any sort of emotion, for that matter, and had barely said a word since they parted ways from the others.

If Kopaka was the quiet one, Onua was the opposite. He had spent the entire day talking – if he wasn't talking to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy about Equestria, he was talking about how the afternoon sun was hurting his eyes. No surprise, Fluttershy figured; spending his entire life underground, Onua was used to seeing in the dark and taking in very little light in his eyes. She'd wished Applejack were here, because then she might at least offer him her hat to shield his eyes from the sun.

And now that night had fallen, they had decided to take refuge under a rock outcropping. Fluttershy was happy to at least be off her hooves; they had been walking since morning, and now that the sun was going down, it was time to relax.

"Boy, I'm thirsty," Pinkie Pie said.

"You've done nothing but drink all day," Kopaka said softly.

"Look at that, he speaks," Onua joked.

Fluttershy turned to Kopaka. "I'm sorry. Um, no offense, but maybe it would have been better if you'd gone to Ga-Koro and Tahu came with us instead?"

Kopaka raised an eyebrow. "And what is that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"I – I'm sorry, Kopaka, it's just, well, I just don't think a desert is the right place for a Toa of Ice."

Kopaka scoffed. "I can manage, thanks."

Onua returned – he had gone off to patrol the perimeter for a few moments. "Well, all clear. No hungry rahi, and none of these Shadow Bohrok I've been hearing about. I think we can rest easy for the night."

"Toa never really rest, Onua," Kopaka reminded him. "You know that."

"What about them?" Onua asked, indicating the ponies. "I'm pretty sure I just saw Pinkie Pie sleeping standing up."

Fluttershy looked over to Pinkie Pie. She was indeed standing, her eyes slowly drooping. She shook her head, waking herself up. "Wow. I am really tired."

"I think we all are," Fluttershy said. She lay down, curling up against the large rock. With a yawn, she began to close her eyes.

"Do as you like," Kopaka said. "But we continue our trek to Po-Koro in the morning. Until then, Onua and I will take turns keeping watch."

"I'll take first shift," Onua volunteered. "You cool off for a bit, Kopaka. You look like your ice is starting to melt."

Kopaka rolled his eyes. "Onua, I think you've been spending too much time around Lewa." He stretched. "But if you insist. Let's each take two hour shifts. Does that sound good?"

"Perfect. I'll wake you in two hours."

################################

Fluttershy found that she couldn't sleep. How Pinkie Pie was able to sleep, she had no idea. And yet there her pink earth pony friend was, curled up next to Onua, who was also sleeping, probably just done with his shift at keeping guard.

Kopaka was standing several yards away, just staring off into the distance. Slowly, she trotted out from under the outcropping they were calling camp, immediately feeling the cool night air. It was a stark contrast to the last time she and her friends were in the desert, with the sun bearing down on them. The air grew even more cool as she approached Kopaka; she could feel the coldness of his elemental power radiating off of him.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Kopaka asked coldly.

Fluttershy stopped walking. "I, well, I couldn't sleep. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you."

"You didn't."

Fluttershy slowly joined him and followed his gaze, looking up at the night sky. The black sky was dotted with hundreds, if not thousands, of brightly shining stars. She figured that if Twilight were here, she'd be trying to map the constellations. It was possible that each star was another world, and each world's inhabitants were probably gazing up at the same sky. She'd had that feeling ever since they'd learned of the existence of other worlds in this vast multiverse they called home, and thinking about it made her feel so small and insignificant.

"Those are beautiful stars, aren't they?" she asked, hoping to strike up a conversation with Kopaka.

"I suppose," Kopaka said. "I really don't give it much thought. That's more Turaga Nuju's area of expertise. I merely keep watch over the Ko-Matoran and protect them from any threats. That's the duty of the Toa."

"But you each protect a different village," Fluttershy pointed out. "I'm sorry if I sound rude, but how can you be united if you work separately from each other?"

"We're not always separate," Kopaka answered. "And besides, we're united in our cause. We are united in our duty to protect the Matoran, and it's our destiny to one day awaken the Great Spirit."

Unity, duty, and destiny….Fluttershy had heard those words a few times while they were on this island. Turaga Vakama had said that they were the three virtues the Matoran lived by. But the villages, the Toa, they were so spread out. Maybe Kopaka had a point; they didn't have to be in close proximity to be united. After all, Fluttershy and the other ponies had so many friends in other worlds, and even though chances were they may never meet again, that didn't stop them from being friends, did it? No, it didn't.

"I don't know what my destiny is," she said after a moment of silence. She glanced at her cutie mark, a picture of three pink butterflies on her flank. "My cutie mark tells me what I'm supposed to be doing – mine signifies my special talent with animals – so maybe….I don't know. I mean, you Toa know what your destinies are, but for somepony like me, I'm honestly content just doing what my cutie mark tells me."

"A symbol of your duty? That's all it is?" Fluttershy just nodded her head. "But if it tells you what you're supposed to be doing, doesn't that count as showing you your destiny?"

"I….Well, I've never thought of it like that."

For several moments later, neither of them said anything. Fluttershy kept her gaze to the beautiful tapestry of stars above her, while Kopaka turned his attention to the landscape. So many stars, so many worlds, so many friends she had and had not met. And not just her; the other ponies as well, and possibly even the Toa too. Each star, a heart. And each of those hearts was connected.

Even if they hadn't met, every being in each universe was connected, each being in each universe was united.

############################

It was late in the morning by the time they reached the village. Kopaka had spotted the domed roofs of the stone huts five miles out, and as they got closer, they could hear the sound of goats bleating in their pens and smell the delicious pies that were being baked.

Pinkie Pie licked her lips. "That smells good!"

"The Po-Matoran are known for quite a few things," Onua explained. "Their baked goods are one of them. Maybe we should let Pohatu explain the rest."

As they neared the village, the sound of frantic screaming joined the rest of the noise. Accompanying that was the thunderous sound of hooves on the ground. The four of them stopped, watched as a cloud of dust began to approach.

"Is that what I think it is?" Onua asked.

"Maha stampede," Kopaka said cooly. He readied his staff. "I've got this." He pressed the bottom tip of his staff into the ground, freezing the area in front of them as the maha – goats, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie could see – got closer.

The goats weren't alone. There was a figure running alongside the herd, a figure that looked familiar.

"Is that Applejack?" Pinkie Pie asked. She started jumping. "Jackie!"

They watched as Applejack galloped alongside the herd, a looped rope held in her mouth and a determined look on her face. She ran as fast as she could, and leaped up onto the back of the lead goat, throwing the rope around the goat's neck and pulling with all her strength. The goat turned; the rest of the herd followed, coming within only a few feet of Kopaka's ice sheet.

"Howdy, y'all," Applejack said, the rope muffling her words, as the herd galloped past.

For a moment, none of them said anything; they just watched as the herd galloped back to the village.

"That's the friend you've been looking for, I assume," Kopaka said.

"Let's go say hi!" Pinkie Pie chirped. She started skipping forward, only to slip on the ice Kopaka had made and fall on her rump. "Ouch!"

Kopaka rolled his eyes; Onua couldn't help but laugh.

"I hope you didn't hurt yourself, Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy said as she helped her friend to her hooves.

#####################################

By the time they caught up to Applejack at the goat pen – a Po-Matoran named Kofu had given them directions – she had just finished closing the gate, ensuring the goats wouldn't get out again.

"Hey y'all," she said. "Sorry 'bout that. Hafu went to go play ball with Hewkii and forgot to lock the gate. They nearly made a mess of the place. Turaga Onewa wouldn't've been happy about that one."

Before she could say anything else, Pinkie Pie jumped her, throwing her front legs around her in a tight hug. "Yay! You're okay!"

"Well, duh. 'Course I'm okay. Got lost in the desert for a bit before Toa Pohatu brought me here, but other than that I'm one hundred percent A-OK." She glanced up at Kopaka and Onua; Onua was waving to her, while Kopaka was just standing off to the side, his arms crossed. "Looks like you've got yourselves a couple of Toa."

"And Rarity and Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle are with Toa Tahu and Toa Lewa," Fluttershy said. "Um, Pinkie Pie? I think she's had enough hugs for the day."

Pinkie Pie backed off. "Oops. Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about, Pinkie. So the other ponies are with the other Toa, huh?"

"We went separate ways looking for you," Fluttershy explained.

"By this point, they've probably met Gali," Kopaka guessed.

"Speaking of which, where's Pohatu?" Onua asked. "We'd usually see him by now, unless he's overseeing a kohlii game."

"Yeah, I think that's what he was doing," Applejack said. "Hafu went to practice with Hewkii. Come on, I'll take ya to the kohlii field."

As they followed Applejack away from the goat pen – and after prying Fluttershy away from petting one of the goats – Pinkie Pie had to ask: "What's kohlii?"

"Ya ever play soccer or hockey?" Applejack asked. "It's kinda like a mix of those. I know Rainbow Dash would like it."

"It's the main sport on the entire island," Kopaka added. "Each village has their own pastime, but kohlii takes precedence over all of them."

##############################

As they made their way through the village, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy – Fluttershy in particular – tried to ignore the prying eyes of the Po-Matoran. Some of them greeted Applejack and the Toa, and Pinkie Pie was more than eager to greet them in return. Fluttershy, though, she was happy keeping to herself; if she had something to say, it would be to her friends.

As they neared the kohlii field, they spotted two Matoran – one brown and sandy tan in color, and the other black and gray in color – running around with what the ponies could only describe as double-ended hockey sticks, with a scoop on one end and a hammer on the other; they were both chasing a smooth, stone ball. Overseeing them was a Turaga that Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy could only assume was Turaga Onewa, who carried a staff tipped with a stone hammer, and a tall, brown and tan Toa adorned with a mask that looked somewhat similar to Lewa's – Toa Pohatu, no doubt.

"Howdy Turaga. Howdy, Pohatu," Applejack said as they approached. "I'd like ya to meet my friends Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy."

"Welcome to Po-Koro, friends of Applejack," Turaga Onewa said.

"Applejack wouldn't stop talking about you and the others like you," Pohatu added. "You really are true friends, aren't you?"

"Yes we are," Fluttershy squeaked.

Pinkie Pie leaned in. "You got any snacks?" she asked Onewa.

"Pinkie Pie!" Applejack scolded her. "You know you can't talk to a Turaga like that!"

Turaga Onewa held up a hand. "At ease, Applejack. I would assume your friends have had quite the long journey, so it would stand to reason that they'd want some food and drink. Of course, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, we do have, as you call them, 'snacks'."

"Yeah, I think Kamen was making up some pies earlier," Pohatu put in. "Come with me; I'll take you to his hut."

"I think we smelled his pies on the way in," Fluttershy said as they followed the Toa of Stone. "They smelled delicious."

"They are," Pohatu said. "Maybe too delicious. When he's not playing kohlii, Hewkii has a habit of eating all of them."

"So did you that one time," Onua said.

"Hey, keep it down, Onua! I don't want everybody knowing that." Pinkie Pie couldn't help but laugh. "I get the feeling this one will eat them all now."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Applejack said. "Pinkie Pie has quite the sweet tooth."


	14. Checking in at Home

CHECKING IN AT HOME

SCOOTALOO HAD LET SPIKE BORROW HER WAGON WHILE HE DID SOME SHOPPING, and good thing she did, too – the wagon was nearly overflowing with food and writing supplies (the latter for Twilight), and he didn't even want to imagine having to cart all of this stuff back to the palace by claw.

It had been nearly three weeks since Kronos had sent Twilight and the other ponies on their mission to that other world, and he had no idea how long it had been for them – a few days, a few moments, maybe a few years. He did know that it was starting to get boring around here, even with his weekly Guys' Night with Big Macintosh and Discord the other day. He was starting to get restless, and when a dragon – even a young dragon – got restless….

No, Spike had learned more self-control than that. Being raised around ponies since he was a hatchling, he knew better than to make a mess of the entire place. And after the last time he made a mess of Ponyville, he learned to keep his natural draconic urges – namely greed – in check.

Still, that didn't stop it from being quiet around the palace when it wasn't Guys' Night. Without Twilight or the other girls around, there really wasn't much to do. Even his comic book collection kept him busy only for so long.

An hour and a half later, everything had been put away, and Spike was sitting at the map table, reading through the latest issue of _Power Ponies._ The book was released one week ago, and Spike had already read through it twice; this would make the third time.

And yet, despite how much he loved these comics, he was still bored out of his little dragon mind. He sat at the table, one hand holding the comic, the other resting against his chin, as he absentmindedly flipped the pages. Part of him wished that Kronos had allowed him to go with the girls to wherever it was he sent them, even though he knew Twilight would tell him that it could be too dangerous for him.

 _It's not like I haven't been on dangerous quests before,_ he thought glumly. _I mean, recently, that bit with the Storm King. You mean to tell me_ THAT _wasn't dangerous? Come on!_

"True, but that was something that could not be helped."

Spike looked up from his book as Kronos warped in. "Oh. You hear thoughts now? That's cool."

Kronos sat across from Spike. "Spike, I assure you that your friends are safe. Trust me."

"It's not that I don't believe you, Kronos," Spike said. "It's just….I miss them. It's been three weeks. Do you know how much longer they'll be gone?"

Kronos shook his head. "I can tell you how they are, but I cannot tell you how much longer their mission will take. That is up to them. You and I both know that these things don't happen overnight. But I assure you, once they complete their mission, I will bring them right home."

"How do you know what they're doing, anyway?"

"Have you forgotten, young dragon? I keep watch over every dimension in the cosmos. I see all."

Spike had to admit, he did forget about that. But then again, after that bit with the Power Rangers, back when Kronos was still, for lack of a better term, a jerk, him coming to Equestria and giving the girls their mission was the first time they'd seen him in months. Of course, being a god, he had his own duties to attend to.

But even before meeting him, in the past couple of years it seemed like everything he thought he knew was wrong. When Cloud and his friends first arrived, that was what clued them in to the existence of other worlds out there besides their own. That was what had angered Kronos in the first place. But after that conflict, he started to mellow out and become less violent, though Spike knew that his job was still to uphold and enforce his laws.

Spike continued to flip through his comic. "So, Kronos, why exactly did you stop by?"

"I…have my reasons," Kronos answered. "I can't say more than that." He stood up. "Spike, the Elements of Harmony will return soon, though I cannot say exactly when. You need not worry about them. Trust me."

Spike wanted to, he really did, but there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that told him they'd still be gone for a long time.


	15. To the Rescue

TO THE RESCUE

AFTER WHAT FELT LIKE SEVERAL WEEKS – IT HAD IN FACT ONLY BEEN TWO DAYS – they were together again. There were hugs and greetings all around from all the ponies, as the Toa just watched. Gali herself had only met Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle, so seeing them interact with Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack….It was a very sweet sight to behold.

"I'm so glad to see everypony's okay," Fluttershy said softly. "It seems so long since we've all been together."

"We're not all here, though," Twilight pointed out. "Please tell me someone saw Starlight Glimmer."

"I'd think she'd be here if we had," Rainbow Dash said. "So, uh, yeah, Star's still MIA."

"Then there's only one place left to check," Tahu said.

"Tahu, please tell me you're not seriously thinking their friend might be _there_ ," Gali said. "She would never survive on her own."

"What are you talking –" Twilight began. She stopped talking, her voice getting caught in her throat, as Gali's words sank in. She knew exactly what Tahu was talking about now. It was essentially the only place on the island they hadn't been.

"I don't get it, Twi," Applejack said. "The hoof is he talking about?"

"Mangaia," Lewa said grimly. "The lair of The Makuta."

Nopony said anything; they just looked at the Toa, a feeling of dread welling up inside them. They'd all been told about Makuta, and in fact figured that he was the reason Kronos had sent them on this mission, but hearing that name….It made the hair on Twilight's mane stand on end. She hadn't even seen him yet – none of the ponies had – and she was thankful for that, but just thinking that Starlight Glimmer was with him….

"We can't leave her there," she said. "We have to go save her."

"Wait a minute, little sister," Lewa said. "We cannot simply go down there without a think-plan."

"I have a plan!" Rainbow Dash cried. "Go down there, find Starlight Glimmer, and kick some tail!"

"That's not a plan, it's suicide," Tahu growled. "Even I'm not brash enough to just rush down there without thinking about what I'm doing."

Rainbow Dash sat on the ground, crossing her front legs in front of her chest, and huffed. Maybe Tahu was right, but this was one of her friends they were talking about. It didn't matter the situation; Rainbow Dash just couldn't sit by while a friend needed her help. It was why she was chosen to be the Element of Loyalty; she wasn't one to leave a friend if she was needed.

But the more she thought about it – and this was only within the span of a few seconds – the more she realized that Tahu and Lewa were right. If she went down there now, there was a good chance that she would get seriously hurt, if not outright killed. She had no idea what was waiting for them down there.

Still, Starlight Glimmer was in trouble, and plan or no plan, she needed to help her.

"I'm not going to sit here and think of a 'plan' while Starlight Glimmer needs our help!" she cried. She took to the air. "Just tell me where this Mack guy is and I'll give him a good tail thrashing!"

"You're not going there alone, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said. "We don't know what's waiting for us."

"Immense darkness that no light can penetrate," Tahu said. "Manas crabs. I think that's about it."

Fluttershy shrunk back. "That doesn't sound very friends."

"No it does not," Applejack agreed.

Rainbow Dash let out an annoyed groan. "Can we please stop talking about this and go find Starlight Glimmer?"

"Without some sort of a plan –" Onua began.

"Look, Onua, the longer we stay here, the greater the chance of us _not_ being able to rescue Starlight. Twilight and Rarity can light up the place with their magic, and we'll avoid these crab things if we can. And when we get Starlight, we'll get out right away. See? There's a plan. Short, simple, easy to remember."

"Can you say that first part again?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I forgot already."

Rainbow Dash snorted in annoyance, before turning and flying towards the massive stone head that overlooked the temple.

"Rainbow, wait a minute!" Tahu called after her.

Pohatu shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Mata Nui, talk about impatient."

By the time they caught up to her, she was standing next to the suva situated atop the temple, impatiently tapping her hoof and using her tail to swat at a fly. She looked from the suva to the Toa and other ponies as they climbed the stairs to the top of the temple.

"I don't see a door anywhere," she said as they approached. "You said this guy lived down there, right? Well, where's the darn door?"

The six Toa stepped up to the suva; Tahu pushed Rainbow Dash aside as he approached. "Stand back."

"Pushy," Rainbow Dash said quietly as she stepped back, joining the other ponies. She felt five sets of eyes staring at her. "What?"

"Rushing off like that when the Toa told you not to?" Applejack asked. "Probably not your smartest move, Dash." Rainbow Dash snorted and kicked at the ground with a hoof. "Don't you snort at me."

"Hey, they're doing something," Rarity said, bringing everypony's attention back to the Toa.

Their masks were glowing with a brilliant gold light; it almost looked like they were wearing different colored masks altogether. At the same time, the suva began to glow, each notch in the suva corresponding to a different Toa. They watched as the suva began to rise up from the platform, revealing a deep, dark hole leading down into the earth below. Slowly, the ponies approached, careful not to disturb the Toa's concentration, and looked down into the hole left behind. Visibility became, well, nonexistent after just a few meters, reminding them of the darkest parts of the Everfree Forest back home.

"Oh my, that's really deep," Rarity breathed. "You think Starlight Glimmer's all the way down there?"

The suva landed softly on the ground below as the Toa finished moving it. "If she's with Makuta, then that's where she'll be," Kopaka said.

"All right, I'm going in," Rainbow Dash said, and before anyone could stop her, she dove into the hole.

For a moment – a moment that seemed to go on forever – no one saw or heard any sign from her. The dark hole was as dark and quiet as it was when the Toa moved the suva less than a minute ago.

And then, Rainbow Dash's voice echoed up from the shadows.

"It's so bucking dark down here!"

"We tried to tell her," Pohatu said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Hang on, everypony," Twilight said as she activated her magic. A purple aura surrounded the Toa and the other ponies. At the same time, Twilight spread her wings, and leaped into the hole, magically brining everyone else with her. Splaying her wings, she slowed her descent, until she felt her hooves touch solid ground.

The first thing they noticed was just how dark it was. Twilight could hear everyone breathing around her, heard Fluttershy nervously clop her hooves against the ground, but as for actually seeing anything….No. It was like she had closed her eyes; all she saw was blackness. Darkness all around her; it felt like it was closing in around her.

"Rarity, let there be light," she said.

The area became slightly more illuminated as she and Rarity activated their magic, lighting the area around them. Now they could see that they were in a large cave, filled with rocks, stalactites, and stalagmites; they could hear moisture dripping off the stalactites on the roof, and Twilight could have sworn she heard something moving off in the distance. Whatever it was, it sounded big and menacing, and she didn't want her or any of her friends to encounter it.

Even with her and Rarity lighting the area, visibility was poor. After only a few feet, the shadows overtook the light from their horns. She couldn't even begin to imagine what was waiting for them out there. She knew about these Manas crabs Tahu had mentioned earlier, but what if there was something else out there? Something worse? If a Manas was a crab – probably a giant crab – then could there in fact be something even more terrifying than that?

 _Maybe the Shadow Bohrok._

The Toa readied their weapons. "Be on your guard, my friends," Gali said. "The path to Makuta's lair may lead us straight ahead, but there is no telling what sort of dangers await us."

"But, you'll take care of them, right, Toa?" Fluttershy asked, her already timid voice no more than a frightened squeak.

Rainbow Dash waved a dismissive hoof towards her. "Whatever it is, we can handle it."

"I hope you're right, Rainbow," Applejack said quietly.

"Let's go, everypony," Twilight said. "Starlight's waiting for us."

Slowly, they moved forward.

No one spoke as they slowly walked forward. Twilight and Rarity had to focus on keeping their magic lighting the area, and the rest of the group didn't bother speaking for fear of alerting whatever was out there, waiting for them. The ponies kept looking around, trying to see in the shadows, trying to spot something. On the one hoof, the fact that it was so dark meant that, since there was nothing to see, there was no chance of spotting anything dangerous; on the other hoof, the fact that it was so dark that they couldn't see anything meant that they had no idea what was watching them.

And even with the light from their horns, it still felt like the darkness was encroaching all around them, closing in, making them feel incredibly claustrophobic. And since nopony was talking, the only sounds were the quiet sound of breathing accompanied by the dripping water from the stalactites and the clip-clop of hooves and patter of feet.

Twenty minutes later, they came to a wall.

"This is it," Tahu said. "This is the gateway to The Makuta." He and the other Toa turned to the ponies. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"I'm ready," Rainbow Dash said. She slammed her front hooves together. "Now open that door!"

"I think we're 'bout as ready as we're gonna get, y'all," Applejack said.

The wall began to rise, and when it had risen enough, they stepped under it and into another room, a room filled with thick green mist, with a shimmering light in the center. On the borders of this room were green and black pillars. As they took in the sights of the room, the ponies felt the dread from before filling them again, only much more than earlier. There was a foreboding feeling about this room; knowing that this was where The Makuta was didn't help much. They had never seen him, and they were hoping they wouldn't. All they wanted to do was find Starlight Glimmer and get out.

The sound of someone crying hit their ears, drew their attention to the far corner of the room. Twilight galloped as fast as she could; Starlight Glimmer soon came into view. The light purple pony was lying on the floor, her face buried in her front legs as she cried.

Twilight slowed to a brisk trot as she approached. "Starlight, are you okay?" Starlight didn't answer; just continued to cry. "Starlight, it's me. It's Twilight. The other ponies are here too; we're with the Toa, and we came to find you." She put a hoof on her friend's shoulder; Starlight's entire body was shaking, and even in this darkness, she could see that her once beautiful bright purple fur and lavender mane was dirty and disheveled. "Starlight, are you okay?"

"If I were you, I'd be more worried about yourself," a voice said from the darkness.

Twilight watched, eyes wide with shock, as another, darker colored Starlight Glimmer stepped into the shimmering light of the three liquid pools in the room. She stepped back, never taking her eyes off this new Starlight. She looked just like her friend and student, the only difference being that her mane and fur were a darker shade of purple and lavender, and her eyes shone with a sort of maliciousness that Twilight had only seen a few times before.

Those were the eyes of evil.

"What are you?"

"I'm what Starlight should have been. A Shadow Starlight, if you will."

"What's going on over there?" Twilight heard Tahu call.

Before Twilight could answer, she felt herself being magically lifted off the ground –

And thrown against the far wall, knocking the wind out of her.

"What the buck was that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight slowly, shakily, climbed back to her hooves. "That's what I want to know," she hissed, ignoring the pain in her side as she glared at Shadow Starlight. "There's two Starlight Glimmers." She pointed to Shadow Starlight as the other pony began to approach them. "She calls herself Shadow Starlight."

"A creation of The Makuta," Kopaka hissed. "No doubt about it."

Shadow Starlight let out a low chuckle. "I wonder what gave you the first clue, Toa of Ice. Would it be the fact that we're in his lair, with him watching us even now? Give yourself a pat on the back for figuring that out. In fact, why don't you all congratulate yourselves for getting this far. I wonder, did you encounter the Manas out there? If not, you're lucky. Or I should say, I'm lucky. Lucky that I get to destroy you all."

The Toa readied their weapons, ready for a fight. "Yeah, that's not going to happen," Tahu growled.

"Oh, I think it is, Toa Tahu," Shadow Starlight countered. Her horn began to glow, and a malicious smile crossed her face. "In fact, I know it is. You came looking for your friend, and now that you've found her, you're all going to die down here." She launched a blast of magic at the Toa.

A transparent bubble emerged around them, starting at Tahu and spreading until the twelve of them were fully encompassed, deflecting the blast. The blast harmlessly hit the far wall.

"She's mine!" Rainbow Dash cried. She flew out of the shield and right for Shadow Starlight, a murderous look in her eyes. Shadow Starlight remained where she was, calmly watching Rainbow Dash approach, that smug grin still plastered on her face.

When Rainbow Dash was only a few feet away, Shadow Starlight activated her magic, catching the cyan-blue Pegasus.

"Hey! What the buck are you –" Her question was cut off by Shadow Starlight throwing her into one of the pillars. "Ow! Hey! That bucking hurt!"

"That was the idea," Shadow Starlight said. She slowly began to move towards where Rainbow Dash collapsed to the floor. "It's what you would call a flank-kicking. And now, whether you like it or not, you'll be the first one I kill." She stopped, though not by choice – her hooves had been frozen to the floor.

"That's not going to happen," Kopaka said; his staff was glowing, and there were flakes of ice on the blade.

Shadow Starlight rolled her eyes. "Give me a break."

Applejack stepped forward. "How about we break one of your legs for what you did to our friend?" she threatened.

Shadow Starlight laughed as her magic melted the ice around her hooves. "How can you make a threat like that when you don't even know what I've done? Please tell me you're saying that just to sound tough. Go ahead; I need another reason to laugh."

Twilight galloped over to Starlight again. "Starlight, please, answer me!"

"She won't answer you, Twilight Sparkle," Shadow Starlight said. "Her mind's too broken. You want to know what I did to her, Applejack? I've hurt her. I've broken her mind. You want to know why? Because I am what she should have been." She pointed a hoof at Twilight. "I am what she would have been had that one not interfered! Makuta showed her that we all have a dark side, by giving Starlight Glimmer's dark side life."

"Well, this wouldn't be the first time," Pohatu said. He turned to the other Toa. "Remember the Shadow Toa?"

"This is no time for a casual conversation," Rarity said. She stepped forward, her horn glowing. "I'd normally have no qualms against doing this to another pony if they didn't deserve it, but I'd say you deserve it." She prepared to fire her magic.

Shadow Starlight's horn began to glow. As it did, Rarity lost concentration of her own magic, and felt her throat tighten. It started becoming difficult to breathe.

"Can't concentrate on your magic if I'm strangling you, can you?" Shadow Starlight taunted.

"Leave her alone!" Rainbow Dash yelled. She slammed into Shadow Starlight from behind, knocking the evil unicorn to the ground. The two ponies rolled, each trying to strike the other, Shadow Starlight firing stray blasts of magic, which hit the roof, walls, and floor.

Twilight wasn't paying that any mind; she was still shaking Starlight Glimmer's shoulder. "Starlight! Answer me!"

Lewa and Fluttershy joined her. "Your sister-friend doesn't seem to hear you."

"Starlight Glimmer?" Fluttershy put a hoof on Starlight's foreleg, felt her shaking. "Oh my. Poor thing."

"Get off of me!" Shadow Starlight kicked Rainbow Dash off of her and climbed to her hooves –

Only to get hit in the face with a blast of water from Gali's axes. "I'll keep her at bay. The rest of you, go to your friend."

Shadow Starlight used her magic to evaporate Gali's water. "You, hold me at bay? Don't make me laugh, Toa of Water."

Rarity galloped over to join Twilight, Lewa, and Fluttershy at Starlight's corner. "Starlight, darling, I know that this monster hurt you, but you can't be like this for the rest of your life. Believe me, I know." She pushed her way past Twilight and Lewa, lifted Starlight's head with her hoof. Starlight's eyes were watery and bloodshot, and the streaks of tears on her cheeks were matting the fur against her face. "I know how you feel, dear. I've been in your position. Remember my story about Megatron and the Decepticons? I know what it's like to be scared and sad and feel alone. It's okay to be sad and scared, but you're not alone. You have friends right here, friends who are here for you."

"But – but she –" Starlight sobbed.

"Is not you," Rarity continued. "That monster might represent what you once were, but she is not who you are now. You are kind and clever and beautiful, and we are all proud to call you our friend. Starlight Glimmer, I look into your eyes, and I see myself more than a year ago. I see a broken pony trying to stay strong. I know that you are strong; I know you are stronger than that thing Makuta created."

Starlight turned away. Rarity turned her head to look at her again.

 _Look at me  
You may think you see  
Who I really am  
But you'll never know me  
Every day  
It's as if I play a part  
Now I see  
If I wear a mask  
I can fool the world  
But I cannot fool my heart_

 _Who is that girl I see  
Staring straight back at me?  
When will my reflection show  
Who I am inside?_

 _I am now  
In a world where I  
Have to hide my heart  
And what I believe in  
But somehow  
I will show the world  
What's inside my heart  
And be loved for who I am_

 _Who is that girl I see  
Staring straight back at me?  
Why is my reflection  
Someone I don't know?  
Must I pretend that I'm  
Someone else for all time?  
When will my reflection show  
Who I am inside?_

 _There's a heart that must be  
Free to fly  
That burns with a need to know  
The reason why_

 _Why must we all conceal  
What we think, how we feel?  
Must there be a secret me  
I'm forced to hide?  
I won't pretend that I'm  
Someone else for all time  
When will my reflection show  
Who I am inside?  
When will my reflection show  
Who I am inside?_

Shadow Starlight laughed. "You're joking! You're joking! I can't believe my ears! Here I am, trying to kill you all, and you break out into song!" She laughed harder. "Okay, you know what? It's time for you all to die." She was knocked back by a blast of magic hitting her in the chest –

A blast of magic fired from Starlight Glimmer.

"You say you're my dark side brought to life by Makuta's power," she hissed. "And you're right. But you know what? That still makes you a part of me." She slowly cantered towards her dark counterpart. "You've always been a part of me. You laugh at Rarity singing in a tense situation like this, but do you know what? Her song helped me see that I still need you. You helped make me who I am." Her horn began to glow. "Shadow Starlight Glimmer, it's time for you to come home."

Shadow Starlight scoffed. "You're not serious." She felt her body begin to vibrate. "What's this?"

"This," Twilight Sparkle said; she and Rarity were using their magic to hold Shadow Starlight in place and prevent her from using her own magic, "is you returning to where you belong."

"That being in my memories," Starlight hissed. Her horn began to glow brighter, as did Shadow Starlight's body.

Shadow Starlight screamed as she faded from view.

A moment later, she was gone.

Starlight Glimmer fell to her knees, breathing heavily. She could feel the darkness still inside her, knew that it was something that she would have to live with. It was part of her, whether she liked it or not.

"Starlight?" Twilight asked. "Are you okay?"

Starlight climbed to her hooves. "Yes Twilight. I'm fine. I just want to get out of here and see some light for once."

"That makes two of us," Fluttershy said softly. She glanced to her left. "Especially with him here!" She ran to hide behind Lewa.

"Who are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash wondered, looking around, and not spotting anything in the darkness.

"She speak-talks about him, Windsprinter," Lewa said, pointing at the figure moving in the shadows.

They all had to crane their necks as the massive, dark figure stepped into what little light there was in the room, and immediately, the hearts of the ponies were filled with a kind of fear and dread they hadn't felt in months.

"That's Makuta," Starlight whispered.

"Oh shit," Rainbow Dash silently hissed.

They all rejoined the Toa, who had their weapons brandished. Applejack scraped at the ground with a hoof; Rarity, Twilight, and Starlight's horns started to glow; Rainbow Dash spread her wings; Pinkie Pie just stared; Fluttershy remained hiding behind the Toa, as Makuta stepped into view.

"I must admit, I am impressed that you all made it this far by yourselves," he said with his deep, booming voice. "You have rescued your friend. Now, run along, or accept your doom."

"I think we should listen to him," Fluttershy squeaked.

"We can't leave, not yet," Starlight said. "He's the one Kronos told us about, the one whose shadows he was afraid would start leaking to other worlds." She turned to Makuta. "You want to know why he's doing all this? You want to know why he's terrorizing the island, why he keeps the Matoran living in fear? Because he's jealous. He's jealous that Mata Nui was getting all the praise while he was left in the dust. He told me so himself." She scoffed. "It's pathetic. You know, Makuta, I used to be just like you. I know what it's like to be jealous. I know what it's like to take everything away from everypony because of that jealousy. And I know that it's all going to come back to bite you sooner or later.

 _I see a cold wind blowing through_

 _I see days neither fun nor free_

 _I see a future caused by you_

 _I see a path not meant to be_

 _The future should be filled with magic_

 _Dreams and wishes brought to life_

 _But the days ahead are dark and tragic_

 _No time for hope when all is strife_

 _Whatever might have been_

 _All the dreams that Matoran share_

 _Because of you, Makuta_

 _Now the future is a cold nightmare"_

"Then I suggest we take him out right here," Rainbow Dash said.

"And besides, he's controlling the Shadow Bohrok," Twilight added. "If we can at least knock him out, that might stop the swarms."

Makuta couldn't help but chuckle. Even the Toa had to wince; Makuta laughing was an unsettling sound. "You, knock me out? Little pony, you are no Toa. And even if you were, that wouldn't matter. I know of one thousand ways to kill you. Would you like to know how many of them hurt?"

"Save it," Tahu growled. "Taking you down is part of the destiny of the Toa. Not only would it possibly stop the Shadow Bohrok swarms, but it will also aid in awakening the Great Spirit."

"You still think awakening Mata Nui is a good idea, Toa of Fire?" Makuta challenged. "Unlike you, I'm glad that my brother sleeps. Sleep spares him pain; awake, he suffers."

"Tell it to somepony who cares," Twilight said. She began to filter her power out through her horn towards the other ponies; at the same time, she could feel the Toa channeling their elemental powers into their weapons. "Are you ready, guys?"

"I guess I'm about as ready as I can be," Fluttershy said softly as she joined her friends.

Makuta smugly crossed his arms in front of his chest. "This is something I have to see."

The thirteen of them channeled the powers. The seven ponies began to glow, surrounded by the colors of a rainbow, while the Toa's weapons glowed with their elemental energies.

 _The time has come to an end_

 _Yeah this is what nature planned_

"We were sent on a mission, and now, we're going to see it through to the end," Twilight said as she poured more of her magic into the attack the seven ponies were preparing to unleash.

 _Being tracked by a starving beast_

 _Looking for its daily feast_

 _A predator on the verge of death_

 _Close to its last breath_

"NOW!" the six Toa cried.

Both groups unleashed their attacks – a massive elemental wave from the Toa, and a beam of rainbow-colored magic from the ponies.

 _Getting close to its last breath!_

Makuta had no time to get out of the way; he could only let out a startled gasp as both attacks hit him square in the chest, knocking him back.

 _RULES OF NATURE_

 _And they run when the sun comes up_

 _With their lives on the line_

 _ALIVE! For a while_

 _NO CHOICE! Gotta follow the laws of the wild!_

 _ALIVE! With their lives on the line_

 _NO CHOICE! Out here only the strong survive!_

They watched the dust cloud form as Makuta slammed into the far wall.

 _What's done is done, survived to see another day_

 _The dance of life, the hunter and the agile prey_

 _No guarantee which of them will succeed: strong or weak?!_

 _RULES OF NATURE_

 _RULES OF NATURE_

"That's it," Twilight said as their powers died down. "He's probably not dead, but at least we stopped him."

"Can we get out of here now?" Starlight asked. "I need to see the sun."

"Sure. Gather round, everypony." Twilight waited until all her friends had gathered around her, fired up her horn –

And in less than a second, they were standing in Ta-Koro.

 **(*NO, NO ONE'S SINGING "RULES OF NATURE"; IT'S JUST THERE, LIKE A BACKGROUND SONG*)**


	16. There's a Place For Us

THERE'S A PLACE FOR US

STARLIGHT GLIMMER WOKE UP WHEN SHE FELT THE SUN FILTERING INTO HER eyelids. She wasn't sure how long she was sleeping, but it was enough for her to feel so much more refreshed than she had in the darkness below.

As she opened her eyes, she thought she was still in a dream. She was thinking that she would wake up and be in her room at the palace, but no, she was still in Turaga Vakama's hut in Ta-Koro. How long had she been out of it?

She slowly slid off of the bed she was laying on; her hooves touched down on the warm stone floor. Her entire body felt stiff, telling her that she had been lying down for some time. She stretched her front legs, then her back legs, followed by her neck and her back, trying to loosen up her musles.

Twilight Sparkle stepped through the door. "Starlight! You're awake!" She galloped over to Starlight and threw her front legs around her in a tight hug.

"Twilight, I'm okay. You saw, I wasn't hurt."

"I know, but you were asleep for two days," Twilight said as she pulled away. "Whatever happened down there must have really taken a lot out of you."

"Two days?" Starlight repeated. "Wow. I knew I was asleep for a while, but Celestia's mane, two days? Kronos hasn't shown up yet, has he?"

"No; he's probably busy in some other world," Twilight guessed. "But you've had other people trying to wake you."

"What? Who? Pinkie Pie?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, some Ta-Matoran that wanted to show us lava surfing. Applejack told them it probably wasn't a good idea."

"Waking me or lava surfing?"

"Both. I know how you are when you wake up – you're not exactly a morning pony. And surfing on lava just sounds dangerous."

"Uh, yeah, it's bucking lava!"

The two ponies left the hut; Twilight led her over to the guards' barracks. "Jaller and the other Ta-Matoran guard have let us join them during their meal times, and it's almost time for lunch. After sleeping for two days, you must be hungry."

"More thirsty than anything. My mouth tastes like paint."

##########################

They stood on the cliffside overlooking the Le-Wahi jungle. For Fluttershy and Rarity, it had only been about a week since they first ventured into that jungle with Tahu in search of their friends, and now here all seven ponies were, looking down at the lush green jungle.

"So how long do you think it's been back home?" Applejack asked. "A day? A month? A year?"

"I don't know, Applejack," Twilight answered. "It could have been a thousand years for all we know. You know we can't exactly keep track of the time difference between worlds; not even Kronos knows that."

"Actually, in your world, it has been one month, two days, six hours, fifteen minutes, and forty-seven seconds."

They heard Kronos's voice before he beamed into view. He took a small step towards them. All seven ponies bowed down, showing him the proper respect he deserved.

"I would like to congratulate you all on a job well done," he said. "You prevented Makuta's shadows from seeping through the world border."

"And from what Turaga Vakama told us, the Shadow Bohrok just sort of disappeared," Rainbow Dash said. "So what now, Kronos? We're going home?"

"Yes. Just as I promised."

Starlight lowered her eyes to the ground. "But the Toa….I never got a chance to say thank you. And I don't think we should leave without at least saying goodbye."

Kronos smiled. "Of course. Excuse me." He vanished.

A moment later, he returned, accompanied by the six Toa. "A little warning, next time," Tahu grumbled.

"You heard this otherworlder," Lewa said. "He brought us here to say farewell to our new sister-friends."

"Please, make it quick," Kronos said softly. "They have to return to their own world soon."

He stepped back as the Toa approached the ponies. For a moment, no one spoke; they just looked at each other. The Toa got down to the ponies' levels and engaged in a fist- and hoof-bump session, the equivalent of a handshake. Kronos could tell that even though they'd only known each other for a short amount of time, the ponies at least were sad to say goodbye to the Toa.

Tahu was the first to speak.

"I'll be honest, you all surprised me. The way you handled yourselves with the Shadow Bohrok and The Makuta – I didn't think you had it in you."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"That's Tahu's way of saying 'good job'," Pohatu answered. "And you know what? You did do a very good job."

"I'm going to miss you, Windsprinter," Lewa said to Rainbow Dash.

"You owe me a race, Lewa."

Gali bumped her fist against Rarity's hoof. "Good luck with your future endeavors, Rarity."

"Thank you, Toa Gali. Good luck to you and the Toa too."

Kronos stepped forward, moving to stand behind the ponies. "I don't wish to cut your farewells short, but we really have to get going. It's to protect the world order; you understand?" No one said anything, and yet, he could tell that they did indeed understand.

He got ready to tap his staff on the ground, ready to send them back to Equestria, when Rarity spoke up.

"I've got it! I know what I'm going to name my Toa-inspired dress line! Okay, tell me what you think of this: 'Rules of Nature'."

"I like it," Twilight complimented.

A moment later, they were back in the palace back home in Ponyville. They were so relieved to be home, so relieved to be back in familiar territory, that for a moment, they never noticed that they were standing on a giant game board. It took them a moment to the massive twenty-sided dice; the first thing they noticed was Spike dressed as a wizard in the vein of Starswirl the Bearded, Big Macintosh in a green tunic, and Discord in a black hood.

It took them a moment to realize that they had come back in the middle of Guys' Night.

Spike was the first of the three to see Kronos and the ponies.

"You guys!" he cried; he tossed his wizard staff aside and ran to them. "You're back!" He threw his tiny dragon arms around Twilight's neck in a tight hug; the other ponies joined in. "I've missed you guys."

"Spike, how long were we gone?" Twilight asked. She'd already gotten an answer from Kronos, but she still wanted to confirm it with Spike.

"You were gone for more than a month," Spike answered.

The seven ponies all turned to face each other. They knew that time moved differently between worlds, but they had no idea they were gone for that long. To them, it had only been about a week. Starlight Glimmer couldn't help but wonder if Kronos knew about this; after all, if he could not only see into other dimensions but could also travel to other dimensions, then why not be able to measure the amount of time between the worlds?

She would have asked him, had he not disappeared.

"So, anything exciting happen while you were gone?" Discord asked. He picked Fluttershy up; the two shared a quick hug. "It's driving me crazy not knowing!"

"Oh, I wouldn't know where to begin," Twilight answered.

Discord pressed two fingers against her forehead. "Want me to bring the memories out of your head for all to see?" Twilight smacked his hand away with a hoof. "I'll take that as a no."

"We'll tell you when we're ready," Rainbow Dash said. "Right now, I gotta go get some food! I'm starving! Hope the kitchen's stocked!"

"I went shopping two weeks ago, so there should be plenty in there!" Spike called as the cyan-blue Pegasus sped off to the kitchen.

"Getting some grub sounds like a good idea," Applejack said. "Y'all coming?"

"You guys go ahead," Starlight said as the other ponies began to file out of the room. "I'll be there in a minute." She watched as the other ponies exited the room, listened to their hooves clip-clopping against the hard floor fade out of earshot as they moved down the hall.

The only ones left in the room were her, Spike, Discord, and Big Mac.

"You know, you could have gone with them," Discord pointed out. "So, why didn't you?"

Starlight wasn't sure if she could answer that. It wasn't because she didn't want to; she just had so much on her mind. She was still shocked about the existence of other universes out there, though that shock had died down a bit; and she couldn't stop thinking about that Shadow Starlight that The Makuta had created. That inner darkness that she had held inside her for so long….She never imagined that she'd be forced to face it. But now that she had, now that she knew that it was part of who she was, knew that it helped make her the pony that she was, she was glad that it existed.

After all, without a past, what was she but a blank slate?

She walked away from the three and opened the doors, stepping outside into the cool night air. She breathed deeply, taking in the cool night air of Ponyville.

Spike hurried out to join her. "Starlight? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Spike," Starlight answered. "You know, it's actually humbling, knowing I'm a small part of something much bigger."

She couldn't help herself; she began to sing.

 _There's a place out there for us  
More than just a prayer or anything you've ever dreamed of.  
So when you feel like giving up  
Cause you don't fit in down here  
Fear is crashing in, close your eyes and spread your wings, yeah._

 _We can be the kings and queens of anything if we believe._  
 _It's written in the stars that shine above_  
 _A world where you and I belong_  
 _Where faith and love will keep us strong_  
 _Exactly who we are is just enough_  
 _There's a place for us, there's a place for us._

 _When the water meets the sky_  
 _Where your heart is free and hope comes back to life_  
 _When these broken hooves are whole again_  
 _We'll find what we've been waiting for_  
 _We were made for so much more_

 _We can be the kings and queens of anything if we believe._  
 _It's written in the stars that shine above_  
 _A world where you and I belong_  
 _Where faith and love will keep us strong_  
 _Exactly who we are is just enough_  
 _There's a place for us, there's a place for us_

 _So hold on, hold on_  
 _There's a place for us_

 _We can be the kings and queens of anything if we believe._  
 _It's written in the stars that shine above_  
 _A world where you and I belong_  
 _Where faith and love will keep us strong_  
 _Exactly who we are is just enough_  
 _Exactly who we are is just enough_  
 _There's a place for us_

"Hey Starlight!" Rainbow Dash called from the kitchen. "There's pineapple fudge cake in here! Better get it before Pinkie Pie eats it all!"

"Coming!" Starlight called back, and she headed back into the palace.


	17. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

KRONOS HAD LEFT THE PONIES AS SOON AS HE TOOK THEM HOME. HIS DUTY meant that he couldn't stay; he had to return to his duties as the watcher of dimensions. He set his staff in the little outcropping in the wall, and would have lay down for a few moments' rest, had he not sensed the presence of another with him.

It was a presence he hadn't felt in a very long time.

A voice reached his ears, a voice that sounded energetic and exhausted at the same time, a voice that he had hoped he would never hear again.

"Hello, brother."

Kronos turned around, found himself facing a being that, like him, was a god, but unlike him, this god had a half-alive, half-dead look to him. His hands were hidden behind his back, keeping something from Kronos's view.

"Hello, Thanatos. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Does one brother need a reason to visit his older brother?" Thanatos asked. He took a step forward; Kronos tensed up. "Oh, I see. You still don't trust me, do you?"

"How can I, when you're the one who continues to undermine everything Father sought to create?"

"You heard The Creator," Thanatos answered. "Death must follow life. I'm merely doing my job, as are you."

"Your job is not to bring death, your job is to ensure the dead are at peace," Kronos countered. "Your duty is to be a guardian of the dead." He glanced at the arm Kronos was hiding behind his back. "What do you have there?"

"Just some trinkets I found over the last couple of million years." He revealed what he was hiding – three large bronze keys. "You recognize these little doo-dads, right? I'm sure Father showed them to you before sending them off to all corners of the cosmos."

Kronos's eyes grew wide with surprise. He had hoped that, after The Creator first gave life to the cosmos, he would never see them again, and yet here he was, looking at three of the four keys he had been shown. "The Keys of Life? Those were supposed to have never been found!"

"And yet here I am, holding three out of four keys," Thanatos said. "You see, brother, after I was in that one universe and hurled a rock at a planet, I got to thinking about what Father told me when he assigned me this job, this 'duty' as you called it: Death follows life. You've been there, you've heard what people say when someone dies. 'It's not fair, it's not fair'. On the contrary, Kronos; death is the ultimate fairness, and what better way for everyone to be treated the same but for everyone to die?"

"That is not what Father tasked you with," Kronos hissed.

Thanatos lowered his arm. "You know, a long time ago, when I brought up this hypothetical scenario to you, you were on board. What was it you said? You would approve if the worlds had broken your laws? Well, from what I understand, a number of worlds have broken your laws. In fact, from what I understand from Yahweh, you nearly destroyed two worlds for breaking your laws, and what did you do? Did you follow through with it? No, you let both worlds live."

"I was shown that my ways were not the right ways," Kronos countered.

"You've. Been. Softened," Thanatos growled, his voice dropping an octave. "You were once ruthless in dealing out punishment. You were once a no-nonsense enforcer of your laws. And now, you've become lenient. I wonder why?" He looked around the observatory. "This world, the one you just came from –"

"Have you been watching me?"

Thanatos answered with a smug grin. "You are not the only one who can see what happens in the worlds here. This world, home of these ponies, would that happen to be the reason you've become such a pansy? Yes, yes, all signs point to that. After all, it was that world's inhabitants that gave you your most thorough defeat, or at least helped with it. Oh, did you think I didn't know? Father knows, I know, every God knows. I wonder, how would you react if that world was among the dead?" Kronos grabbed him by the neck. "Rest assured, that won't be the only one. All worlds will suffer the same fate. You can quote me on that." He turned to smoke and vanished.

Kronos felt his heart sink. If his brother had found three of the four keys, then how long would it take for him to find the final key?

And where, exactly, was that key?


End file.
